Krue Se Mosque


Krue Se Mosque also called Gresik Mosque, Pitu Krue-ban Mosque or Sultan Muzaffar Shah Mosque, is a mosque in Pattani Province, Thailand. Its construction may have begun in the 16th century. The current structure features a mixture of Middle Eastern and European architectural styles.

History

It is unclear when the mosque was first constructed. According to Hikayat Patani, a history of the Pattani Kingdom, two mosques were constructed during the reign of Sultan Muzaffar Shah, one of which was built at the town square and may be this mosque. It is also said that it was built during the reign of the Ayutthaya king Naresuan the Great. A mosque was known to be have been constructed by the early 17th century; Jacob van Neck wrote in a Dutch report in 1603 that the then principal mosque of Patani "was very neatly constructed by Chinese workers from red bricks". A later 17th century account by Dutch traveler Johan Nieuhof says of the mosque in Patani:

Some local Patani people believe that the mosque was built by the Chinese pirate Lin Daoqian, who according to local lore married the daughter of the Sultan of Patani and converted to Islam. Next to the mosque is a garden as well as the gravestone of Lin Guniang, said to be the sister of Lin Daoqian, who in this tale placed a curse so the dome of the mosque could not be completed.
The mosque was designated a historical site by the Department of Fine Arts of Thailand in 1935. Restoration works on its structure were done in 1957 and 1982. Further renovation was completed in 2005.

Krue Se Mosque incident

On 28 April 2004, during Thaksin Shinawatra's premiership and in a period of insurgency by Islamic nationalists in the southernmost provinces, 32 gunmen took shelter in the mosque, after more than 100 militants carried out attacks on 10 police outposts across Pattani, Yala, and Songkhla Provinces. After a seven-hour stand-off with Thai military personnel, soldiers attacked and killed all 32. The attack contravened orders from the Minister of Defence to end the confrontation peacefully, and has been the subject of an international inquiry, which concluded the military used excessive force.