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** History
of Islam in Korea **
Seoul Central Mosque
Early
Introduction Stage
Korea was full
of poverty, sorrow and pain resulted from Korean War which broke out
on June 25, 1950. In such ruins of war, Islam began planting its
seeds by brother Zubercoch and Abdul Rahman who participated in the
Korean War as military service members of the Turkish Army of the
United Nations stationed in Korea. During his service he built a
Quonset hut used as Masjid, where he preached Islamic doctrine to
the Korean People.
The Turkish
Army taught the Korean people at the Masjid Tent built at the
refugees' villages the teaching of Islamic monotheism during the
Korean War, while the Korean people devoted themselves to religious
lives in the dark and ruined surroundings wishing for bright future
trusting Allah.
Preparatory State
As a first
step towards an effective Islamic work in Korea, the early Muslim
brothers organised a Korea Muslim society. This Islamic society
elected Almarhum Muhammad Umar Kim Jin Kyu as president. Later, the
leaders of the Korean Muslim were invited to visit Islamic Countries
and some of the Korean Muslims were sent to Muslim College in
Malaysia to be trained as future Islamic workers and leaders.
Malaysian
Delegations led by Vice Minister Tunku Abdul Razak and his wife,
visited the site of the proposed masjid. Later on Haji Mohammad Nuh,
a Malaysian government officer, saw that a permanent base should be
erected to carry out dawah activities.
So, with the
Malaysian government's donation of $33,000, he handed over the money
to the Korean Muslim Community to build a masjid in 1963.
Unfortunately, the construction of the masjid could not be completed
due to various reasons among them were the inflation.
Settled Stage
It was not an
easy task to make a base for dawah activities. Many difficulties had
to be endured and solved. But despite all these, the dedicated early
Muslims tried very hard to promote Islam, with full faith in the One
and Only God. They were successful in converting the Korean Islam
into Korean Islamic Foundation which was approved by the Korean
Government and was officially registered at the Ministry of Culture
and Information. (Registration no. 114, March 13, 1967)
Thus, Korean
Muslim began to make ways for active dawah work and managed to open
a new era for Muslims in Korea with the will of Allah.
Take Off State
The Korean
Muslims' long dream, the construction of Central Masjid was
materialized in 1976. The opening of Central Masjid and Islam Center
were the most important turning points for the history of Korean
Muslims. At the opening ceremony, 55 representatives of around 20
countries glorified the dream of Korean Muslims, and the magnificent
opening ceremony served as an outburst of sudden increase in the
number of Korean Muslims.
The opening of
the first Masjid of Korea contributed to rapid development of Islam
in Korea. Foreign Dignitaries (V.I.P) who participated in the
ceremony visited the then Prime Minister Choi Gyu Hwa to perform a
role of raising the interest in Islam.
In the mean
time , the Korean Muslim's mission had made pilgrimage to Mecca to
inspire the people with the Islamic belief and to perform faithful
duties in 1979, and the Korean Muslims spurred the propagation
activities in Korea taking the opportunity of so called "Boom of
Middle East"(1974-1980) by raising the interest in the Middle East
and Islam.
Pilgrimage to the Holy
Land
The Korean
Muslims are not lazy in making pilgrimage to the holy land, one of
the 5 Duties of Islam. Every year the Korean Muslims perform the
holy duty by organizing the pilgrims group. The first pilgrimage was
led by Haji Subri Seo Jung Gil in 1960. One of the largest groups
ever performed Hajj was in 1978 with 130 person in 1979, 104 persons
managed to perform the pilgrimage.
|
 Pusan
Mosque |
 Chun-Ju
Mosque |
Chronology
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1955
(September): Imam Zubercoch and Abdul Rahman, Participated in
the Korean War as military service members, reached Quran for
the first time in Korea.
-
1955 (October):
Korean Muslim Committee started (Umar Kim Jin Kyu as Chairman:
Imam and Secretary General uhammad Yoon Doo Young)
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1961
(September): 14 men mission headed by Senator Ubaidulla of
Malaysia stayed in Korea for 13 days.
-
1962 (August):
The Malaysian Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman donated $33,000
for the construction fund of Central Masjid of the Korean Muslim
-
1963 (October):
The Malaysian Speaker brother Haji Muhammad Noh visited Korea in
(promised to propose to the Malasian government for the
development of Korean Muslim)
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1967 (March):
Korea Islam Foundation approved by Ministry of Culture and
Information of Korea (Approval No. 114, March 3, 1967)(Chairman
Suleiman Lee Hwa Shik), Secretary General Adul Aziz Kim Il Cho)
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1974 (December):
Through the good offices of late President Park Jung Hee, 1,500
m2 of land was donated as building site for Central Masjid.
-
1974 (May):
Construction of Seoul Central Masjid and Islamic Center were
completed and opened.
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1976 (December): Busan Temporary Masjid opened, Br. Kim Myung Hwan began to
perform dawah work.
-
1976 (March):
Korea Islamic Cultural Centre Installed and being operated in
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
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1978 (April):
Temporary Masjid opened at Yok-ri Gwangjoo-eup, Gyunggi-do,
Korea: brother Abdullah Jun Deuk Lin began to preach Islam to
the people.
-
1978 (October):
The largest pilgrimage group of 132 persons went to perform the
holy pilgrimage for the first time in Korean History; Kuwait
Temporary Masjid opened.
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1980 (May): The
then prime Minister Choi Gyu Hwa promised to King Khalid of
Saudia Arabia to donate the land for the construction of Korea
Islamic College during the joint comminique.
-
1980 (July): 130
thousand Pyongs of land was donated for the construction of
Islamic College in Yongin, Gyunggi-do, Korea.
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1980
(September): Opening ceremony of Pusan Al-Fatah Masjid was held
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1981 (June):
Opening ceremony of Kwang-Ju Masjid was held
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1982.(August):
Indonesia Branch was established
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1983 (August): W.A.M.Y. Seoul Regional Camp was held under the auspices of
O.I.C. & W.A.M.Y.
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1984 (August): W.A.M.Y. Local Muslim Camp was held.
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1985.(July): The
1st Leadership Training Camp was held
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1985 (August):
The 2nd W.A.M.Y. Local Muslim Camp was held
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1986.(April):
Opening ceremony of Anyang Rabita Al-Alam Al-Islamic Masjid was
held
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1986
(September): Opening ceremony of Jeon Joo Abu Bakr sidiq masjid
was held
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1987 (August):
87 W.A.M.Y. Local Muslim Camp was held
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1988 (August):
88 W.A.M.Y. Local Muslim Camp was held
Kwangju Mosque
Source :
http://islamic-world.net/islamic-state/islam_in_korea.htm
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