Al-Junaid family
The al-Junaid family was a Hadhrami family of merchants and traders who migrated to Singapore from Palembang in the 1820s. Setting up their business in Singapore, the family also established the oldest surviving mosque in Singapore, the Masjid Omar Kampong Melaka in 1820. The suburban area of Aljunied and its adjoining MRT station is named after them.
History
The al-Junaid family were originally a family of traders and merchants who hailed from Hadhramaut. The family are a branch of the Ba 'Alawi sada, descendants of Sayyid Ahmad al-Muhajir al-Uraydi al-Husayni. Their business was originally based in Palembang, which was under Dutch control at the time. Due to Singapore's status as a free port, the al-Junaid family found it profitable and migrated there. The patriarchs of the al-Junaid family, Syed Mohammed and Syed Omar, arrived in Singapore between 1820 and 1821. Syed Omar donated land under a waqf scheme for the construction of the Masjid Omar Kampong Melaka, which was rebuilt by his son Syed Abdullah in 1855. Syed Omar also donated land to be used as a Muslim burial ground, now known as the Jalan Kubor Cemetery. The family resided in their mansion at High Street until they sold it in 1919, years after Syed Omar had died.In 1927, Syed Abdul Rahman al-Junaid, a former Justice of Peace, established a madrasa on Victoria Street, known as the Madrasah Aljunied Al-Islamiah. In 1940, the family established a shophouse for textiles and fabric within Arab Street, known as Toko Aljunied, which still is in operation to this day. In 1994, the family and their distant relatives, the al-Saqqaf family had a dispute in court over the ownership of three shophouses near Jalan Besar MRT station, which was eventually resolved in 2016 with the al-Saqqaf family winning the dispute in court.
The early members of the family, including Syed Omar, were buried at the Jalan Kubor Cemetery, until their graves were exhumed in the early 2000s to be reinterred in the grounds of the Masjid Omar Kampong Melaka.