Itaewon - a Muslim Paradise

Walking through the streets of Itaewon was exceptionally thrilling for the Muslim students who went on the Korea trip, as there were plenty of Halal food signs. Finally, after days of eating cabbages, mushrooms and squids, we found places that sell halal food, mainly kebab.

One of the many Halal Turkish kebabs we came across at Itaewon

More Halal food marts along the streets of Itaewon

But, since we were at Itaewon on a mission to discover Seoul’s only mosque, we tried our best not to get distracted with the food.

After walking for a good 15 minutes from to drop-off point, we finally found Seoul Central Mosque, which was established in 1976. Due to the small population of Muslims in the country (of only approximately 400,000), it is no wonder that the mosque is smaller compared to the mosques in Singapore.

Seoul Central Mosque in the heart of Itaewon

According to our own research, most of the Muslims in South Korea are actually migrants from the Middle East, thus the diversity of races we saw at the mosque compound. 

We visited the mosque during a non-prayer hour, so we did not actually get to see how many people go to the mosque to pray. However, we still went inside to look at the interior of the mosque.

Overall, it is no different from the mosques we see in Singapore, except that it is a little bit rundown, and the prayer halls (for the females, especially) were really small and narrow.

- Chingus

Article by: Nur Amirah 

Video by: Shah Ezuan and Angelyn Leow

Pictures by: Hannah Farhanah, Angelyn Leow