KL mosque under fire after social media users allege rude treatment, cronyism

SHAH ALAM – A mosque in Kuala Lumpur is facing criticism online after a social media thread was flooded with allegations of rude behaviour, double standards and cronyism involving members of its committee.

Several users shared personal experiences in the comment section of a post that initially invited the public to attend iftar at the mosque.

One commenter claimed the mosque was “too territorial”, alleging that even long-time residents avoided it.

“I don’t know. This mosque is a bit too territorial to the point that even those of us who have lived in TTDI for over 40 years try to avoid it. My family, at least,” the user wrote.

The commenter went on to describe an incident involving their elderly mother.

“There was one year my elderly mom had her chair (the mosque’s chair, but still) taken from her whilst she was praying by some committee makcik (aunty) because apparently that chair had been reserved for some VVIP coming. My mom was in the middle of praying. Imagine if she didn’t realise, she could have fallen and hurt herself. The least they could have done was wait for my mom to finish. Nobody prays 50 rakaat non-stop.” Another user alleged their late father’s funeral prayer was not allowed at the mosque.

“I rarely go to this mosque ever since they rejected performing funeral prayers for my late father, whereas Ghufran accepted without issue. Too much cronyism and politics going on, probably why people hate it there,” the commenter said.

Others claimed the mosque was not child-friendly.

“Love this mosque. Unfortunately, from my own experience it wasn’t kid-friendly,” one user wrote, recounting an incident where her two-year-old child was allegedly scolded.

“Last year, my two-year-old was scolded by an elderly woman because he was playing peek-a-boo with me (his mum) in a whispering voice from the partition between the men’s and women’s prayer rows. I tried to understand her concern in case the partition might break and gave my sincerest apology as I didn’t want to disturb others, but the elderly woman was yelling, ‘Whose child is this?!’ I replied softly that he was mine. Since then, my husband and I have not returned to the mosque.” Another commenter alleged preferential treatment involving prayer garments.

“This mosque holds many sweet and bitter memories. The sweet memories – lots of good food. The bitter ones – some of the mosque committee members are arrogant and not friendly. When I was in primary school, my mother was scolded by a committee member for wanting to use the mosque’s telekung. The committee member said that telekung was for ‘datins’, but unfortunately that was the only one available in the women’s section. Hopefully, the new committee members will be more empathetic and friendly. God willing.” One lengthy comment described remarks allegedly made by a woman encountered in 2024.

“Long story short, these were remarks made by a makcik I encountered on the night of the 29th of Ramadan 2024. She asked, ‘Where are you staying?’ I said KJ. She replied, ‘You’re from KJ but you come all the way here?’ with a smirk and a side glance. I was sharing a hadith in Arabic about patience and accepting Allah’s decree. She responded, ‘I’ve performed Hajj three times, okay. You don’t have to teach me.” Another user claimed she was scolded while attending a pre-marriage course at the mosque.

The allegations surfaced under a post on Feb 23 that had initially encouraged people to attend iftar, stating that as of 6.32pm there were still many empty slots available.

“Information: As of 6.32pm, there are still many empty slots for iftar at the mosque. Let’s invite friends and family to attend,” the original post read.

The comment section quickly shifted from discussing iftar arrangements to sharing personal grievances, with some users expressing surprise at the tone of the discussion.

As of publication, no official statement has been issued addressing the claims circulating online.