During a recent visit to Ho Chi Minh City, my friend Mark introduced me to the Musulman Mosque in an up-market part of District 1 near Saigon’s old city hall (now the home of the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City; aka, the municipal government). Formally named Jamia al-Muslimin Mosque, the building was completed in 1935 by Indian expatriates living in Saigon, which was then part of the French colony of Cochinchina. The small mosque with its distinctive architecture and color scheme is a quiet haven in one corner of a bustling city that is decidedly not known for tranquility.
