Masjid Haji Muhammad Salleh & Makam Habib Noh is a mosque and Muslimmausoleum respectively in Singapore located at top of Mount Palmer. Today the mausoleum and its adjacent mosque are under the purview of Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura. The mosque is not to be confused for another mosque with a similar name along Geylang Road.
History
The makam sat on top of Mount Palmer, but following an 1890 refurbishment by Syed Mohamed bin Ahmed bin Abdul Rahman Alsagoff, it was rebuilt with 52 stairs. A merchant from Betawi and a good friend of Habib Nuh, Haji Muhammad Salleh had built a surau for Habib Nuh before the 1860s. The surau known as Surau Kampong Sambau, was demolished and replaced with the present-day Masjid Haji Muhammad Salleh in 1903.
Habib Noh
Habib Nuh bin Muhammad bin Zain bin Abdul Rahman Alhabshi is one of the well-known Islamic saints of South East Asia. He was also widely known as The Grand Saint Of Singapore. Born in 1788 into a family of five brothers onboard ship en route from Palembang to Pulau Pinang, he arrived in Singapore before 1819. Habib Nuh was a direct descendant of Muhammad and was named after Nuh. He came to be held in high regard by not only Muslim community but also non-Muslim and seafarers as well as renowned for distributing cash to local children. Habib Nuh's father, Habib Muhammad bin Zain Alhabshi, also known as Habib Putih, worked as a palace official under Sultan Ahmad Tajudin Halim Shah II of Kedah. The seat of the Kedah government then was at Kota Kuala Muda. When his first wife died, Habib Muhammad married Ku Pahmah, widow of Syed Yasin Al-Anggawi Al-Hassani who was killed at Limbong Kapal when the Siamese attacked Kedah in 1821. After the marriage, the family moved to Pulau Pinang. Habib Nuh also has a sister by the name of Sharifah Aloyah whose descendants still reside in Pulau Pinang. After Habib Nuh died, folklore tells of how on his body's journey to Telok Blangah Muslim Cemetery, the pallbearers could no longer bear the weight of the coffin. When the mourners remembered Habib Nuh had wanted to be interred on Mount Palmer, they could once more lift the coffin. After Habib Nuh's death a keramat or shrine was built over the grave, which became a place of Muslim pilgrimage and attracted Haj visitors from afar afield as the Dutch East Indies and China on their way to Mecca.
Sharifah Badariah; married to Syed Muhammad bin Hassan Al-Syatrie and they had a daughter by the name of Sharifah Rogayah. Sharifah Rogayah who died at Bukit Pasoh in 1891 and buried at Duxton Plain Park married to Syed Alwi bin Ali Aljunied and they had five children:- Syed Abdul Rahman, Sharifah Zubaidah, Syed Abdullah, Sharifah Zainah and Sharifah Maznah.
Habib Nuh's death anniversary ceremony is often held on the last day of the month Rabiul Akhir. It starts about 'Asr with various invited 'ulamas or religious scholars from within Singapore and overseas giving lectures. Maulid and Tahlil are read after Maghrib. Generous food is then served to the hundreds of guests regardless of race or religion, after Isya' prayers.
Habib Nuh's family at first administered the makam through a trust fund known as Habib Nuh Trust Fund, with responsibility for the tomb's upkeep later transferred to the Muslims And Hindus Endowment Board in 1936, and finally in 1968 to the Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura. In providing Muslim office workers a convenient location for prayers, the institution continues to play a major role in the community. In addition to the upkeep of visitors to the mausoleum, it also receives high-profile scholars for lectures and Khutbah and other religious services. On July 2017, the mosque and mausoleum have been upgraded with better facilities and greater accessibility to the hilltop shrine. Key architectural features are still preserved.
