Mosque needs volunteers for tour project

The renovated MTP base is a place for volunteers to welcome visitors before taking them on a tour around the mosque.— Photos by RAJA FAISAL HISHAN

WHILE some causes attract many volunteers, others have insufficient manpower as there is lack of awareness about their cause.

Lesser known by the public, the Federal Territory Mosque has its own tour project called the Masjid Tour Programme (MTP), fully run by volunteers.

Its co-chairman Dr Mansoor Marican said MTP was incepted in 2009 and has 100 registered volunteers, with 45 active ones.

Handling walk-in visitors and conducting group tours, the MTP volunteers try to tailor their presentations based on the interest and time availability of each group.

“We provide training to the volunteers and have a mentor and mentee training programme, among others,” said Dr Mansoor at the launch of MTP’s renovated base at the mosque, recently.

He added that their long-term goal was to popularise the “Mosque in a Garden” theme to visitors as the mosque has a herbal, tropical and floral gardens.

The renivated MTP base is a place for volunteers to welcome visitors before taking them on a tour around the mosque.

Dr Mansoor said they have had many repeat visitors who always brought family members and friends to visit the mosque.

“In our four years of operations, we have had almost 16,000 visitors from 125 countries,” said Dr Mansoor, adding that they ceased operations in 2012 to make way for renovation work at the mosque.

Their visitors include those who work in embassies and their family members, students from local and international schools, university students and tourists, among others.

“The launch of the renovation serves two purposes — to encourage people to volunteer and the public to come in as visitors,” said Dr Mansoor, adding that they welcomed all members of the public. Visitors are advised to dress conservatively.

MTP volunteer Majini Majid said volunteers helped to take visitors around the mosque, and would explain about the mosque’s architectural features and history, among others.

Additionally, volunteers do their best to answer questions about Islam posed by curious visitors.

“I once had a tourist in her 40s who came to the mosque and asked where all the idols were kept,” said Dr Mansoor, adding that visits to the mosque could be educational for tourists.

He added that a mosque was not only a place for Muslims, but also a place for non-Muslims to seek knowledge and shelter.

Shareen Al Mashor, who has been volunteering for more than two years was approached to become a volunteer for MTP.

“Among the challenges of volunteering is in getting my facts right,” she said.

Majini, who has been volunteering for a year, is now a mentor to new volunteers and emphasised the importance for volunteers to set a good example to visitors.

Present during the recent launch of MTP’s renovated base was Federal Territory Islamic Religious Department (Jawi) director Paimuzi Yahya and the mosque’s chief imam Zakariah Isa.

At the event, Paimuzi announced that the MTP base was called Ibnu Battutah Tour Room, named after a Moroccan explorer.

The MTP tours starts from 10am to 6pm, daily.

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