Adelaide Mosque originally named the 'Afghan Chapel', is of national significance as one of the few relics of Afghan immigration to South Australia and embodies in built form, Afghan and Islamic culture.
Initially funded by a group of Afghan and North Indian camel drivers, the Mosque dated from 1888 – 1889 with the four distinctive minarets added in 1903.
The Adelaide Mosque is the oldest surviving mosque in Australia and the first to be built in an Australian city. It was erected 1888–1889.
Moves to construct the Adelaide Mosque were led by Hadji Mullah (also known as Moolah or Hadji Mullah Merban or Mehrban). A Tarin Afghan, Hadji Mullah worked with camel teams carrying materials and supplies for the Overland Telegraph Line, completed in 1872. This suggests that he was one of the first of the cameleers to arrive in South Australia from 1865. Retiring to Adelaide, Hadji Mullah wanted a place where cameleers and traders could practice their Islamic faith.
Hadji Mullah became the first caretaker of the mosque. He and his wife lived in a cottage in the grounds.
*There is a peculiar Afghan temple near Whitmore Square. It was once apparently quite an ordinary-looking dwelling, but the priesy and his little group of people have quite altered its aspect.
At each corner tall minarets of circular shape have been erected, and each has a gold ball at the top of the staff which crowns it. Those in front are colored white, and there is much quaint ornamentation on the front of the building, which would look well in a photograph, but which is somewhat tawdry when viewed with the naked eye.
The minarets at the rear are in plain brick. They rise to a height of about 40ft, with a diameter of perhaps 3ft at the base and gradually diminishing in girth as they rise.
The mosque is enclosed by a high fence, and there i« a spacious courtyard in front, in which at the time I peeped in at the gate a group of Afghans were squatting, while a green-turbaned personage chatted to them. He had done the pilgrimage to Mecca, and so was a man of distinction. Ref: The Mount Barker Courier and Onkaparinga and Gumeracha Advertiser (SA) Friday 30 Janary 1903.
*Aghans in Adelaide. Worshippers of Islam.
The Afghan race has existed for thousands of years. High-spirited, independent, and brave, these "dwellers in the mountains" certainly are, and they have made themselves respected by their neighbours. Their enterprise is shown by the fact that numbers of them have left their native land and travelled to the farthest, ends of the earth. In South Australia, according to the census returns, there are many hundreds of Afghans.
The most interesting of my experiences in connection with the Afghans was on the occasion of my visit to the mosque in Little Gilbert Street — the local sanctuary of Islam.
I visited the mosque by moonlight. As I stood in the large courtyard and gazed up at the four lofty minarets glimmering white.
Certainly I had chosen the proper hour at which to view the mosque. The day light might have dispelled the veil of romance which seemed to hang over this scene — the trees in the garden around the building throwing dark and mystic shadows, whilst the austere, lime-washed walls glistened in the moonbeams.
Within the mosque was a large pond, with a fountain in the centre sending up a spray of silvery drops, while in the water "the faithful" perform their ablutions.
The mosque is situated in a garden filled with flowers of all colours, and the effect is enhanced here and there, by evergreen trees. On one side of the mosque are a number of cottages, around which vines have been trained, with the result that they appear very picturesque. These cottages furnish lodging for the poor of the Mohammedan persuasion — for charity is a great feature of the religion of Islam.
On a bench outside one of these sat a young Afghan — Piro of the Khalil tribe — who was singing in the monotonous cadence characteristic of his race.
Jaffa Solomon, the caretaker of the mosque, who is able to speak English fairly well, kindly furnished me with interpretation.
Jaffa Solomon I found to be a most intelligent and obliging individual. "By birth," he told me, "I am a Hebrew — a Jew, but I have always lived among Mohammedans, and I was brought up in that religion."
Do many Afghans come here to worship I asked.
"There are only 25 or 30 Afghans in Adelaide," he said. "Most of them are on the west coast or up at Alice Springs or Oodnadatta — camel drivers, you know. When they come to "Adelaide they come here to pray, but that is seldom."
"The Mohammedan" he continued, "leaves his shoes at the door of the mosque, and enters with bare feet. Some time ago two ladies who live at Government House came here, and they had to take off their shoes before they could go in. They didn't mind — only laughed."
When I hinted that I would like to see the interior of the mosque, Jaffa at once expressed his pleasure to escort me. In my stockinged feet I entered the outer courtyard, where the fountain is seen playing in the pond, which is about 15 ft long by 18 ft wide. Thence we went into the inner court, which opens directly into the mosque. The inner court is beautifully floored with tessalated tiles, which I was told were very costly. I was also informed that two of the minarets cost over £150, while the other two cost nearly £100.
Light is supplied by a kerosine lamp suspended from the roof.
To the visitor the interior of the mosque is disappointing. There is nothing in the building which calls for admiration. Its architectural pretensions are practically non-existent.
Ref: Express and Telegraph (Adelaide SA) Wednesday 13 May 1903.
