KUALA LUMPUR, July 1 — The difficulty his heavily pregnant wife encountered in accessing the surau at a shopping complex prompted a man to provide honest reviews of prayer facilities for Muslims at various public locations on social media.

Since last year, supermarket manager Rusydi Sayuti Rosli, 37, who is also an influencer and content creator, has been tirelessly contributing his time and energy towards creating and posting videos of his reviews on his TikTok account using the hashtag #reviewsurau.

“My reviews don’t generate any income for me but I feel compelled to review the conditions of public suraus, especially those located in shopping complexes, because I have observed that some of them don’t follow the guidelines set out for such facilities and are not easily accessible, especially for people with disabilities, women and the elderly,” he told Bernama.

This Kuala Lumpur-born man’s noble efforts began to garner public attention after his video recording and review of a prayer room in a shopping mall in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, received 1.5 million views within less than eight hours of being uploaded on his TikTok account in August last year.

Rusydi Sayuti said suraus in shopping complexes often have a shortage of telekung (prayer garment worn by women) and prayer rugs, and have smelly carpets as well. Some have inconvenient locations such as in parking lots.

There are also prayer rooms that do not provide enough privacy for the users, especially women, and also have incorrect qibla direction and limited operating hours and are noisy.

“We are not asking for luxurious suraus. It is sufficient for them to be clean, have all the basic amenities, and are suitable for everyone, along with accurate qibla direction,” he said, adding he conducts his reviews of public suraus every weekend.

“Once a video goes viral and attracts public attention, it will finally open the eyes of the (complex) management to improve the conditions of the surau concerned. But sometimes I do receive harsh criticism not only from the management but also from the local community.”

He said he almost gave up after receiving extremely negative criticism, but “I rose again when many people, including non-Muslims, encouraged me to go on”.

Rusydi Sayuti, who also reviews suraus located in rest areas, bus terminals and train stations, said each time he reviews a surau, he will follow up by finding out if the management has taken steps to improve its conditions.

However, he added, where shopping malls are concerned, he often has difficulty finding the team responsible for managing their suraus.

He is also planning to meet Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Senator Datuk Mohd Na’im Mokhtar to bring up issues pertaining to the conditions of public suraus.

Rusydi Sayuti also hopes to review suraus located in shopping complexes and public areas in the rest of the country. — Bernama