Malaya gained its independence from the British government on 31 August 1957. Major development programs in areas of economy, social, and architecture were actively implemented in line with the new government. The programs were also implemented to portray new progressive culture and achieved democracy.
Therefore, on 30 July 1957, in a meeting of the Federal Executive Council, an idea to build a national mosque as a symbol of the country's independence was mooted.
In another meeting on 5 March 1958 of Chief Ministers of the eleven states in the Federation of Malaya, a proposal was made to name the mosque Masjid Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, in recognition of Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman's efforts in guiding the country to gaining independence. However, Tunku refused this honour; on the contrary, he named it Masjid Negara in thanksgiving for the country's peaceful independence without bloodshed.
The mosque was built on the former site of the Venning Road Brethren Gospel Hall, which was acquired by the government in 1961. The church was offered land on Jalan Imbi as a replacement and is now known as Jalan Imbi Chapel.
The original structure of the mosque was designed by a three-person team from the Public Works Department: UK architect Howard Ashley, and Malaysians Ikmal Hisham Albakri and Baharuddin Kassim. The engineer in charge of the construction of the mosque, which commenced in 1963 was Antony Morris.
On Friday, 27 August 1965, the mosque was declared open by the third Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the late Tuanku Syed Putra of Perlis.
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