Arakan Army Takes Over Maungdaw's 200-Year-Old Grand Mosque, Seizes Shop Rentals and Replaces Management Committee

Arakan Now | 12 September 2025

The Grand Mosque in Maungdaw Township, also known as Monshi Mosque, was built in 1818. It owns about 198 acres of land, which were donated for the use of the mosque and the families who manage it.

Previously, the mosque committee collected rent from shops built on mosque land and paid taxes to the government.

Since October 5, 2025, after the Arakan Army (AA) took control of Maungdaw, the group has removed the old mosque committee and formed a new 15-member committee under its control. The new committee is required to collect 200,000 kyats per month from each of 22 shops and transfer the money to the AA administration.

The old committee was composed of descendants of the mosque's founder, but the AA now controls all affairs related to the mosque.

Locals said that in the past, governments sometimes closed the mosque, but none ever took its property or rent. Under AA rule, however, the group is seizing mosque property and forcing shopkeepers to pay inflated rents.

The AA has also taken over land and houses belonging to Rohingya people who fled to other parts of Rakhine or to Bangladesh, labeling these properties as “ownerless.”