By Izzud Deen Redzuan
The Islamic Arts Museum has been ranked the top museum in Malaysia by TripAdvisor in preserving the Islamic heritage and arts, displaying over ten thousand artefacts from various parts of the Islamic world.
Among other artefacts are from China, South East Asia, India, Middle East and Iran, which range from the tiniest pieces of jewellery to one of the world’s largest scale models of the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca.
During Awal Muharram, the beginning year of the Islamic New Year, my friends and I have a chance to visit this finest arts museum with a low entrance fee at RM7 for student and RM14 for adult.
Currently, there is on-going special exhibition entitled “Dala’il al-Khayrat” at Ground Floor, an exhibition of the prayer manuscripts with amazing details, colours and calligraphy from the 16th to 19th centuries.
Through this exhibition, the visitor will discover the inside of Dala’il Al-Khayrat and understand its content, the eight ahzab (days of recitation) and other main elements of the prayer books.
In addition, there is a sirah of Prophet, which the manuscript can be traced back to Imam Hassan ibn Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (PHUB).
On the first floor, there is an eye-opening exhibition even for a Muslim like me. The vast of exhibition of Islamic architecture (for example, the exquisite models of Mosques from all over the world), the Qur’an and Manuscript Gallery (for example, different Arabic script styles and its decoration), and three major subcontinents i.e. India, Chine and Malay world gallery.
In India Gallery, visitors will able to see the finest arts like sketch medical books and colourful story-telling books, which at the same time calling for brotherhood in Islam and obeying Allah the Almighty.
Then, on the second floor, of the main attractions are jewellery, fabrics and ceramics gallery.
I could not look away from the jewellery in amaze, and my eyes fixed on the glass.
Some of the jewellery belonged to the last Ottoman Empire, Persian Empire and Indian Empire – their personal accessories for example, earring, necklace, crown, and ring.
During the visit, I met Ashley, 21, from Australia, who said, “I am excited to tell my classmates about it and I will encourage them to visit the Islamic Art Museum Malaysia because aside from the books, seeing museum pieces such as the artefacts will provide students like us additional knowledge of world history.”
She added, “The reality is one sided image of Islam. By learning and understanding the Islamic architecture, manuscripts, and history, those are the truly representatives of the Islamic world.”
Trust me, this museum was too large for the couple of hours’ visit and we had to explore history. There is a lot of detailed and systematic information which we spent too long to read and appreciate everything.
Anthony, 30, from Philippines, said that, “There is a lot I don’t know about Muslims, which annoyed me. Islam has an interesting history and how powerful it is to have influenced their neighbours.”
“To me, the highlight of the museum is that it shows Islamic design and development throughout the world over the centuries. The building itself is well attractive and resonant of the old Islamic age. Thanks to Iranian tile work and the look.”
After all, it is a worth learning experience and a must for Muslims because it hosts lots of Islamic arts and shows the beauty of Islamic world, inside out.***
