Walking into Văn Lâm hamlet, visitors will notice something found in very few other Cham villages. Within the same neighborhood, about five hundred meters apart, stand two houses of worship that look quite unalike. One is a long, brightly whitewashed hall with flat walls, no dome, and doors that remain closed for nearly the entire year. The other is a domed building topped with a crescent moon embracing a star, its doors open every day with people coming and going for all five prayer times.
These two buildings belong to two distinct religious traditions within the same ethnic group, in the same village, among people related by blood and marriage. This article covers the second building, Islamic Mosque 101, whose proper name is Jamiul Muslimin. It is a mosque of orthodox Sunni Islam and the first of its kind across the entire former Ninh Thuận region.
IOne village, two religious systems
One distinction must be stated from the first line, as it is the most frequent point of confusion. This place is a mosque of orthodox Islam, belonging to the Cham Islam community. It is not a Bàni mosque.
Within the same Văn Lâm hamlet stands a house of worship of the Cham Bàni community, the Văn Lâm Bàni Mosque, or Sang Magik of the village, located about five hundred meters away. The library has a dedicated entry for that Bàni sanctuary, and reading both entries together shows how this Cham village operates in practice. The traditional Cham name of the village is palei Ram, shared by both communities because both belong to the same palei. According to a study in the Journal of Religious Studies (Tạp chí Nghiên cứu Tôn giáo), Mosque 101 carries the proper name Jamiul Muslimin and stands in Văn Lâm 1 hamlet on a plot of 1,640.22 square meters.
According to the tenets of Islam, the foundation of faith is belief in Allah, who is formless and cannot be depicted. Consequently, the mosque contains no statues, no paintings of living beings, no incense burners, and no food offerings. Decoration consists solely of geometric patterns and calligraphic verses from scripture.
The Cham Islam community here follows Sunni Islam and practices according to the Shafi'i school of jurisprudence. Every believer is bound by the Five Pillars, comprising the declaration of faith, five daily prayers, fasting throughout the month of Ramadan, almsgiving, and the pilgrimage to Mecca if able. In orthodox Islam, these five duties rest upon each individual believer and cannot be delegated to anyone else. For that reason, the mosque stays open year-round and welcomes worshippers every day.
Religious affairs at each mosque are overseen by a management board known among the Cham as the Ban Hakem, headed by a Hakim, with an Imâm who leads prayers, a Khotib who delivers sermons, and a Tuan who teaches the reading of the Qur'an. Notably, this board is elected by the congregation for a five-year term rather than passed down through hereditary family lines. According to a study published in 2019, the Ban Hakem of Mosque 101 has nine members.
Among the Cham of the former Ninh Thuận region, two distinct communities exist within the Islamic tradition, sharing a common historical root while following separate paths over centuries. The library records these differences as factual observations without ranking one practice above the other.
| Aspect | Cham Bàni | Cham Islam |
|---|---|---|
| House of worship | Sang Magik, colloquially called a pagoda by outsiders | Masjid, called a mosque |
| Clergy and leaders | Acar, Mưdin, Katip, Imâm, Po Gru, by hereditary succession | Hakim, Imâm, Khotib, Tuan, elected for 5-year terms |
| Fasting month | Ramưwan, clerics reside in the Sang Magik and fast on behalf of the village | Ramadan, the entire community fasts for the full month |
| Daily prayers | Observed during festival seasons | Five times every day |
| Ancestor rites | Includes grave-sweeping and offering meals to ancestors | Not practiced |
| Mosque doors | Open only during festival seasons | Open year-round |
Two common misunderstandings deserve clarification in a historical spirit, without criticism of anyone.
First, not all Cham in this region follow Bàni. The generalization that the Cham of former Ninh Thuận consist only of Brahmanist (Ahier) and Bàni (Awal) communities leaves out a third group. Since the early 1960s, a segment of the Cham Bàni population in the area has practiced orthodox Sunni Islam, and today around three thousand believers worship at four mosques numbered 101, 102, 103, and 104.
Second, calling this place a pagoda (chùa) is inaccurate. In Vietnamese usage, a pagoda refers to a Buddhist temple with Buddha statues and monastics. Here there are no statues, no monks, and no altars. That label is an informal habit among outsiders and is not used by members of the community.
IIThe first of four mosques
The history of this mosque is much shorter than that of other Cham sanctuaries in the region, and precisely because it is recent, it tells a story that older sites do not, namely how a group of villagers adopted a different form of religious practice and built their own prayer hall while remaining right in their ancestral village.
- Around 1959 to 1960Orthodox Islam reaches palei RamAccording to studies by Tạ Long, Ngô Thị Chính, and Chu Văn Tuấn, starting in 1959 several Cham individuals from Phước Nhơn and Văn Lâm came into contact with an Indian Muslim merchant and the Cham Muslim Association of Vietnam in Sài Gòn, brought relatives from Văn Lâm, Phước Nhơn, and An Nhơn to Sài Gòn to study the faith, and returned to introduce it among their kin. Before a mosque was built, believers in Văn Lâm prayed in private homes.
- 1960 or 1962Construction of Mosque 101The first orthodox Islamic mosque in the region was built in Văn Lâm hamlet once the local Muslim group reached about thirty households. Sources record different founding years between 1960 and 1962, as detailed below.
- 1962, 1963, or 1964Mosque 102 in Phước NhơnThe second orthodox mosque in the region was built in Phước Nhơn hamlet, another traditionally Bàni village. Sources record varying founding dates between 1962, 1963, and 1964.
- 1964 or 1968Mosque 103 in An NhơnThe third mosque was built in An Nhơn hamlet, adjacent to Phước Nhơn and likewise home to both religious systems. Sources record either 1964 or 1968.
- 1964, 1974, or 1986Mosque 104 in Nho LâmThe fourth mosque rose in neighboring Nho Lâm hamlet within the same commune as Văn Lâm, completing the sequence of four consecutively numbered mosques in the region.
- 1998Renovation of Mosque 101According to data from the Provincial Islamic Representative Board published in the Journal of Religious Studies, Jamiul Muslimin Mosque 101 in Văn Lâm was renovated in 1998 on a site of 1,640.22 square meters.
- 2011 and 2012Provincial Representative Board formedAn interim representative board was introduced at Mosque 104 in March 2011, and in 2012 the Representative Board of the Islamic Community of former Ninh Thuận province was formally established to coordinate all four mosques.
Three points where published sources diverge are noted openly here rather than smoothed over.
On the founding year. The study by Tạ Long and Ngô Thị Chính, as well as the 2007 volume edited by Nguyễn Hồng Dương, state that Mosque 101 was built in 1962. Meanwhile, figures from the Representative Board of the Islamic Community of former Ninh Thuận province cited by Chu Văn Tuấn in 2019, along with a Voice of Vietnam (VOV) report quoting the head of the Ban Hakem of Mosque 101, state that this first mosque was established in 1960 and renovated in 1998. Because the library has not located an original founding document, both dates are recorded, what is certain is that the mosque was erected in the early 1960s and was the first of the four.
On the number of followers. A 2018 report by the Provincial Islamic Representative Board lists 1,530 believers at Mosque 101 and 286 at Mosque 104 in Nho Lâm, out of 2,662 across all four mosques. Fieldwork conducted in September 2019 by Chu Văn Tuấn recorded 451 households with about 2,000 residents for Mosque 101. By contrast, a 2023 VOV report states that the entire former Phước Nam commune had 1,479 Muslim believers worshipping at Mosques 101 and 104 (earlier 2005 commune figures cited by Tạ Long and Ngô Thị Chính recorded 1,200 Cham Islam believers out of 8,051 total Bàni and Islam followers in the commune). These discrepancies likely reflect different survey years and whether counts include registered household members working away from the village, so the library presents all reported figures.
On the provincial representative board. The VOV report notes that the interim representative board held its launch ceremony in March 2011 at Mosque 104, whereas Chu Văn Tuấn records that the Representative Board of the Islamic Community of former Ninh Thuận province was officially established in 2012, holding its first term from 2012 to 2017. Together these dates mark the transition from an interim committee to a formal provincial body overseeing all four mosques.
IIIPrayer hall, mihrab, and how it differs from a Bàni hall
Seen from outside, the feature that immediately distinguishes an orthodox Islamic mosque from a Bàni Sang Magik in the same village is the roofline. A Bàni hall has no dome, no tower, and no rooftop emblem, resembling a village meeting house. An orthodox mosque has a dome, an elevated tower structure, and a crescent moon embracing a star overhead. This difference is functional rather than merely aesthetic, since one building opens only during festival seasons while the other calls believers to prayer five times every day.
A wide, open interior with a level floor, free of chairs, statues, paintings, or altars. Worshippers stand shoulder to shoulder in horizontal rows without rank or hierarchy.
A recessed niche in the main wall indicating the qiblah direction toward Mecca. The mihrab is not an altar and holds no sacred object, its sole function is to orient the rows of worshippers.
A stepped pulpit placed beside the mihrab, used for delivering the Friday sermon. It is the only raised structure in the hall, elevated for acoustics and visibility rather than clerical status.
A water tank and row of taps near the entrance used for obligatory ritual washing (wudu) before every prayer. Because no one may enter the prayer rows without ritual purification, the water area is an indispensable part of the layout.
The elevated tower feature used for projecting the call to prayer (adhan). In the village mosques of this region, the minaret is compact and much lower than those of large mosques in the Mekong Delta.
Restricted to geometric patterns, stylized floral motifs, and Arabic calligraphy of scriptural verses, in keeping with the prohibition against depicting living beings. A crescent moon and five-pointed star crown the roof.
Visitors familiar with Vietnamese communal houses and Buddhist pagodas will notice the absence of a multi-layered longitudinal axis. Traditional Vietnamese temples lead visitors through a triple gate, courtyard, front hall, and finally an inner sanctuary, each layer more enclosed and sacred than the last. A mosque is open, as one crosses the yard, performs ablutions, and steps into a single spacious hall where everyone stands abreast in equal rows. No room is more secretive than another, because there is no physical object of worship hidden inside.
According to published studies and news reports, the mosque was renovated in 1998 and further expanded in recent years on its 1,640.22-square-meter grounds. What has remained unchanged through every renovation is the site and orientation of the prayer hall, as neither may be altered.
IVThe lie of the land and orientation
A clear premise must be stated upfront. Islam does not teach feng shui. The orientation of a mosque is governed by a single mandatory rule of the faith, the qiblah, the direction toward the Kaaba in Mecca measured along the shortest great-circle path across the Earth. From Vietnam, that bearing points slightly north of due west. The builders have no discretion to choose otherwise. No geomantic compass, no founder's birth year, and no astrological trigrams play any role in selecting this axis, and if a plot of land lies at an awkward angle to the road, the interior prayer rows are angled accordingly rather than shifting the qiblah.
The observations below represent a reading through the lens of traditional Vietnamese geomancy, offered by the library purely as a comparative reference for readers familiar with that system. They are neither taught by Islamic doctrine nor considered by the community when building.
The most striking feature to read here is not the terrain itself, but two houses of worship sharing the exact same axis within one village. The Bàni Sang Magik and Islamic Mosque 101 in Văn Lâm stand about five hundred meters apart and belong to two different religious systems, yet both orient their prayer walls toward the same distant point. Traditional geomancy has no parallel for this situation, because classical rules align each building according to local terrain, watercourses, or a patron's birth year, causing neighboring structures to face different directions. Here the reference point lies thousands of miles outside the land parcel, rendering every sanctuary parallel. Seen through traditional eyes, this is a system anchored to an external center, a concept foreign to classical geomancy.
Regarding the lie of the land, the village sits on the dry, sun-baked, windswept coastal plain of South Central Vietnam, with low mountains to the west and the sea to the east. In traditional geomantic terms, the entire village occupies a configuration that sits against the mountain and faces the sea, with the western hills providing backing and the eastern sea opening as a broad bright hall (minh đường). The practical challenge in this climate is not a lack of qi but fierce winds and intense heat, which the Cham address by building low structures with thick walls, small windows, and tightly clustered neighborhoods. The mosque building follows this same vernacular adaptation.
Regarding the western orientation in traditional eyes, the West corresponds to the Metal element, autumn, and inward contraction. Vietnamese vernacular houses rarely favor facing west because of the harsh afternoon sun, especially in an arid zone like this. Yet the westward prayer axis here was chosen neither for climate, nor for topography, nor for anyone's horoscope, but solely because Mecca lies in that direction. It is a clear illustration of a religious precept overriding all terrestrial calculations, noted here by the library to show the boundary of comparative reading.
Finally, there is the water basin at the entrance. Classical geomancy regards water as a medium that gathers qi and pays close attention to the placement of tanks and ponds, placing water right at the threshold creates what traditional texts call water at the gate (thủy tại môn), where moving air meets water, slows down, and collects. The actual reason for the ablution area has nothing to do with qi, as it exists solely because ritual washing is mandatory before every prayer. The two traditions point to the same physical feature while speaking of two entirely different things.
VDaily, weekly, and annual rhythms
Life at the mosque moves in three cycles, comprising five daily prayers, the Friday congregational prayer, and annual observances reckoned by the Hijri calendar, the Islamic lunar calendar. Because the Hijri year is about eleven days shorter than the solar year, Islamic festivals cycle gradually through the seasons rather than staying fixed like Vietnamese lunisolar festivals. This also sets the mosque apart from the Bàni community next door, whose month of Ramưwan follows the traditional Cham calendar.
| Time (Hijri calendar) | Observance | Practice |
|---|---|---|
| Every day | Five daily prayers (Salat) | Five prayer times set by the sun's position, including dawn (around 4 a.m.), noon (around 12 p.m.), afternoon (around 3 p.m.), sunset (around 6 p.m.), and night (around 7 p.m.). Each is preceded by ritual ablution at the entrance water area. |
| Every Friday | Midday congregational prayer (Jumu'ah) | The largest gathering of the week, featuring a sermon delivered from the minbar followed by communal prayer. A 2019 survey at Mosque 101 recorded attendance of about 60 percent on Fridays, compared with about 50 percent on regular days. |
| 12th of Rabi al Awwal | Mawlid | Commemoration of the birth of the Prophet Muhammad, one of the community's major annual observances. |
| Entire month of Ramadan | Month of fasting | The ninth month of the Hijri calendar. Believers abstain from food and drink from dawn to sunset, gathering at the mosque in the evening to break the fast and perform additional prayers. |
| 1st of Shawwal | Festival of Breaking the Fast | Known internationally as Eid al Fitr (and locally as Raya Eidil Fit-ri), marking the end of Ramadan. The entire community gathers at the mosque for prayer before visiting one another's homes. |
| 10th of Dhul Hijjah | Festival of Sacrifice | Known internationally as Eid al Adha (or Raya Eidil Adha / Haji festival), coinciding with the pilgrimage to Mecca. Livestock is slaughtered and distributed among community members and those in need. |
Alongside prayer, the mosque maintains the practice of almsgiving standard to every masjid, including the obligatory annual alms (zakat) and voluntary charity (sadaqah), as well as Qur'anic classes for children in the neighborhood. Life-cycle rituals such as weddings and funeral prayers for Cham Islam believers are also held at the mosque.
What makes this village especially noteworthy lies in its shared human landscape. Each year, when the Bàni community enters the month of Ramưwan with grave-sweeping rituals and ancestral meal offerings, the Islam community enters the month of Ramadan with the entire congregation fasting from dawn to dusk. The two fasting seasons bear cognate names, follow two different calendars, and unfold within the same village among people who share bloodlines and language. Published studies note that during the initial split in the 1960s and late 1970s, sharp disputes arose between the two sides over bringing the bodies of villagers who died outside the hamlet to the mosque for funeral rites, which conflicted with Bàni village taboos against bringing an outside corpse through the village. Over time, a separate pathway was arranged and reconciliation was reached, today the two communities live in harmony and visit one another during family weddings and funerals as kin and neighbors, even while remaining completely separate in religious practice. That coexistence is what makes palei Ram worth reading closely.
VILocation And How To Get There
- Address
- Thôn Văn Lâm, xã Phước Nam cũ, nay là xã Thuận Nam, tỉnh Khánh Hòa
- Getting there
- The mosque is located in Văn Lâm 1 hamlet, former Phước Nam commune, now Thuận Nam commune, Khánh Hòa province, along National Route 1 heading south from Phan Rang. Within the same hamlet stands the Văn Lâm Bàni Mosque about five hundred meters away, and in neighboring Nho Lâm hamlet stands Islamic Mosque 104 about seven hundred and eighty meters away.
- Coordinates
- 11.4961, 108.9198
This is an active house of worship situated amidst family homes rather than a tourist attraction, so visitors are expected to follow local rules. Remove shoes before stepping into the prayer hall. Dress modestly, with men in long trousers and sleeved shirts, women with head coverings and modest attire covering arms and legs. The main prayer floor is for men, while women have a designated prayer area. Do not walk directly in front of someone who is praying, speak loudly, or photograph worshippers during prayer. The Bàni sanctuary in the same village is a separate institution with its own customs, which should not be conflated with those practiced here.
Nearby places in the library
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?Quick Questions
Where is Islamic Mosque 101 in Văn Lâm?
It is located in Văn Lâm 1 hamlet, former Phước Nam commune, now Thuận Nam commune, Khánh Hòa province, along National Route 1 south of Phan Rang. Properly named Jamiul Muslimin, it is a mosque of orthodox Sunni Islam and the first of its kind in the former Ninh Thuận region. Within the same hamlet stands a separate Bàni sanctuary.
When was Mosque 101 in Văn Lâm built?
In the early 1960s, though sources give two dates. Studies by Tạ Long, Ngô Thị Chính, and Nguyễn Hồng Dương record 1962, whereas data from the Provincial Islamic Representative Board cited by Chu Văn Tuấn (2019) and a Voice of Vietnam report record 1960, with a renovation in 1998. The library records both dates.
Why does Văn Lâm village have two different mosques?
Because the village is home to two Cham communities following two distinct religious systems. One is the Cham Bàni community with its Sang Magik, and the other is the Cham Islam community practicing orthodox Sunni Islam at Mosque 101, about five hundred meters apart. The orthodox Islam community formed in the early 1960s right within the ancestral village.
Which mosques are numbered 101, 102, 103, and 104?
They are the four orthodox Islamic mosques of the former Ninh Thuận region, numbered consecutively, comprising 101 (Jamiul Muslimin) in Văn Lâm built in 1960 or 1962, 102 (Jamiul Muslimin) in Phước Nhơn built in 1962, 1963, or 1964, 103 (Al Noor) in An Nhơn built in 1964 or 1968, and 104 (Niakmah) in Nho Lâm built in 1964, 1974, or 1986. Together they serve around three thousand believers.
How do Cham Bàni and Cham Islam differ?
Cham Islam follows orthodox Sunni Islam, where each believer performs five daily prayers, the entire community fasts throughout Ramadan, the mosque stays open year-round, and the Ban Hakem leadership is elected for five-year terms. Cham Bàni delegates the five religious duties to the hereditary Acar clergy on behalf of the village, maintains ancestor veneration, and observes the month of Ramưwan according to the Cham calendar.