Masjid Shitta Bey, Masjid Tertua di Nigeria yang Berdiri Sejak 1894

KOMPAS.com – Masjid Shitta Bey, atau dikenal sebagai "Masjid Turki", merupakan salah satu masjid tertua di Nigeria. Masjid ini didirikan oleh pebisnis ternama--Mohammed Shitta Bey.

Mengutip Daily Sabah, pembangunan masjid dilihat langsung oleh Sultan Abdul Hamid II yang merupakan sultan ke-34 Kerajaan Ottoman.

Masjid tersebut dianggap sebagai salah satu peninggalan bersejarah yang paling penting di Nigeria. Bahkan, Masjid Shitta Bey dijadikan sebagai tempat pertemuan Muslim di sana.

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Dibangun pada 1891

Pada akhir abad ke-19, Shitta yang merupakan seorang saudagar kelahiran Sierra Leone, membangun Masjid Shitta Bey di Lagos, Nigeria.

Mengutip Rabaah.com, Shitta merupakan keturunan Yoruba yang kemudian diberi gelar “Bey” oleh Hamid.

Gelar tersebut diberikan sebagai penghormatan lantaran Shitta merupakan pemimpin komunitas Muslim di Lagos.

Pada saat itu, dia membiayai pembangunan masjid berdasarkan desain seorang arsitek asal Brazil bernama Joao Batista da Costa.

Pembangunan masjid dilakukan oleh orang-orang Afro-Brasil yang kembali untuk memperkenalkan gaya arsitektur khas Afrika Barat yang rumit. Banyak dari mereka merupakan pengrajin terampil.

Baca juga: Masjid Adelaide, Masjid Tertua di Australia, Berdiri sejak 1888

 

 

 

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Coloured photo of Shitta-Bey Mosque on Martins Street. It was completed and opened in 1894 with a large event attended by the majority of elite in the Muslim society and across Lagos like Richard Beale Blaize, Oba Oyekan I, JPL Davies, J. O. Payne, Edward W. Blyden, presided over by Lagos Colony Governor, Sir Gilbert Carter. It was also on this day that Mohammed Shitta was conferred with the title "Bey" by the Sultan of Turkey, Abdul Hamid II (who was represented by an official) in recognition of Shitta's philanthropy (the Ottoman Order of Medjidie 3rd class, the highest class for a civilian). It was designed by the Afro-Brazilian mason João Baptista da Costa assisted by Sanusi Aka. On the large pediment are stone block pilasters capped by pinnacles embossed with flowers and topped by an onion bulb, crescent and seven point star. There are two oculi and the facade is faced by ceramic tiles resemblance of the Zellige mosaic tile work, a form of Islamic art (The Moorish art of zellige flourished during the Hispano-Moresque period (Azulejo) of the area known as Al-Andalus (modern day Spain) between 711–1492.). Mohammed Shitta-Bey was a major donor for the construction of the Lagos Central Mosque in 1873 and held the chieftaincy title Seriki Musulumi of Lagos, thus making him the leader of the Muslims of Lagos. He also donated to spreading Islam across Lagos and Sierra Leone. In 1852, the crisis between Akitoye and Kosoko forced his family to move to Badagry where he became an agent to the firms of Pinnock B & Co and Messrs Miller & co. He served as an adviser to Oba Oyekan I, and financed Oyekan's candidacy for the Lagos throne until the colonial government approved Oyekan's succession of Dosunmu. He earned the nickname "Olowo Pupa" because of his famous gold cowrie coins. He died of influenza on the 4th of July, 1895, exactly a year after the opening of the mosque. ????: Eliot Elisofon/1961 #thefacadenigeria #colonialarchitecture #shittabey #shittabeymosque #coloniaeramosque #martinsstreet #martinsstreetlagos #oldmosque #historyoflagos #historiclagos #lagoshistory #coloniallagos #colonialfootprints #byHisgraceforHisglory

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Biaya pembangunan masjid pada saat itu, mengutip Aa.com.tr, diperkirakan mencapai 300 poundsterling, setara dengan Rp 54 juta berdasarkan kurs tahun 2020.

Pembangunan selesai pada 3 Juli 1894 dan segera diresmikan oleh Gubernur Lagos. Masjid Shitta Bey merupakan masjid paling modern dan termahal di British West Africa, daerah jajahan Inggris di Afrika Barat pada saat itu.

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Peresmian dihadiri oleh banyak orang penting

Dalam peresmian masjid, Shitta juga mengundang Hamid. Melalui undangan tersebut, dia berharap bahwa Hamid akan membantu dalam penyebaran Islam di daerah tersebut.

Kendati demikian, dia tidak bisa datang. Hamid kemudian mengirim perwakilannya, Abdullah Quilliam, yang turut membawakan Order of Osmanieh dan Order of the Medjidie.

Selain itu, Quilliam juga dikirim untuk menyampaikan dukungan terbuka bagi Muslim di Afrika Barat.

Acara peresmian Masjid Shitta Bey merupakan acara sosial dan keagamaan yang penting di Lagos pada saat itu.

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Another prior, and equally important, development of the period within which many works on display were made, that is, the period of increasing colonial domination, is the Yoruba-Brazillian architectural tradition of the late nineteenth century. This is the style of building introduced to West Africa by Yoruba people repatriated from Brazil. The buildings of Francisco Nobre, for example, were to be found from Lagos to Elmina in what is now Ghana, and his younger compatriot, Joao Baptist Da Costa, was responsible for the strikingly beautiful Martins Street Mosque in Lagos (Laotan 1960). It is often forgotten that the returning Yoruba people from Brazil and frin Sierra Leone, in the nineteenth century, included Muslims as well as Christians. In 1891 Muhammad Shitta Bey, merchant, philanthropist, and a son of Sierra Leone repatriate, commissioned the building of the Martins Street Mosque. While it was still under construction, its fame spread all over the Yorubaland, and across the seas to Sierra Leone, England and Turkey... its formal opening on 4 July 1894 was a grand occasion... The Governor, Sir G. T. Carter, was present, and so was a representative of the Sultan of Turkey in the person of Abdallah Quillam, the President of the Liverpool Muslim Association. The mosque was formally opened by the Turkish representative.(Gbadamosi 1978:66) What was wanted was something in the latest style that was yet unique, and this was provided by the Yoruba-Brazillian Catholic artists. Da Costa later laid the foundations of the Central Mosque on Nnamdi Azikiwe Street (now tragically demolished), which was completed by his trainee, Sanusi Aka, circa 1900 (Laotan 1960) Source The Yoruba Artist #reminisce #nigeriahistory #reminiscebyolabisi #historicalpictures #colonialnigeria #britishempire #britishnigeria #yorubabrazilian #yorubabrazillianarchitecture #martinsstreetmosque #centralmosquelagos #shittabey #dacosta #brazillianreturnees #slavetrade #yorubaartist

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Sebab, acara tersebut turut dihadiri oleh banyak sheikh, raja, dan imam dari seluruh komunitas Muslim di pantai barat Nigeria.

Bahkan, mengutip Masjed.ir, ada juga yang hadir dari barat Sudan. Tidak hanya Muslim, juga umat Kristen dan masyarakat lain yang ingin memberi selamat.

Ribuan Muslim terlihat menunggangi kuda, kereta kuda, bahkan berjalan kaki. Hujan deras yang mengguyur hari peresmian tidak membuat pria, wanita, dan anak-anak berhenti melakukan paradei di jalan sembari menyanyikan berbagai macam lagu.

Hingga kini, Masjid Shitta Bey masih berfungsi dan bangunannya masih dipelihara dengan baik. Bahkan pada 10 Desember 2013, masjid tersebut dijadikan sebagai satu dari sembilan monumen nasional oleh Nigerian National Museums and Monuments Commision.

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