Overview:
The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is located in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. The Sheikh Zayed Mosque is the largest mosque in the country and is a major place for daily, Friday, and Eid prayers. During Eid, we can be visited by more than 41,000 people. The impressive and inspiring Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is one of the largest temples in the world and the only one that captures the unique connections between Muslims and other world cultures. Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Founder of the UAE, had a clear vision for the mosque: incorporating building styles from different Muslim communities and celebrating cultural diversity by creating a truly enriching and inspiring environment at its core. The architects of the mosques were British, Italian, and Emirati, with design ideas borrowed from parts of Turkey, Morocco, Pakistan and Egypt, among other Islamic countries. The end result is stunning, glorious in architecture.
History:
The Grand Mosque was built between 1996 and 2007. It was created by Syrian artist Yousef Abdelky. The building measures approximately 290 by 420 m (950 by 1,380 ft), covering an area of more than 12 hectares (30 acres), with the exception of the outdoor garden and car park. The main axis of the building is rotated about 11 ° southwest of the actual west, directed toward the Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The project was launched by the late president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who sought to establish a structure that would incorporate Islamic cultural diversity and historical and modern standards of architecture and art. In 2004, Sheikh Zayed died and was buried in the courtyard of a Muslim church.
The offices of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Center (SZGMC) are located on the western minarets. The SZGMC manages day-to-day operations and serves as a center for learning and discovery through its cultural educational activities and visitor programs. The library, located northeast of Minaret, serves the public with ancient books and books on a variety of Islamic topics: science, culture, calligraphy, art, and coins, including some rare books from more than 200 years ago.
Design and construction:
The design of the Sheikh Zayed Mosque was inspired by the Persian, Mughal, and Alexandrian Mosque of the Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi Mosque in Egypt, as well as the construction of Indo-Islamic mosques, particularly the Badhahi Mosque in Lahore, Pakistan. . The layout of the dome and the mosque planet, were encouraged by the Badshahi Mosque. Its main roads are extremist Morish, and its minarets are Arabic.
Dimensions and statistics:
The mosque is large enough to accommodate more than 40,000 worshipers, and a large prayer hall can accommodate more than 7,000. There are two small prayer halls, with a capacity of 1,500 each, one of which is a women’s prayer hall.
There are four minarets in the four corners of the yard that rise to about 107 m (351 ft) in height. The yard, with its floral design, measures approximately 17,000 m2 (180,000 sq ft) and is considered one of the largest marble designs in the world.
Hours of operation: 11:00 am – 11:00 pm
The open policy of mosque doors encourages visitors from all over the world, from families to groups, traveling alone to celebrants, to not only see its beauty but also gain a deeper understanding of the cultural beliefs of the mosque in a space that encourages open dialogue. The largest mosque in Abu Dhabi, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque can accommodate 55,000 worshipers and visitors daily. Completed in just over a decade, the mosque was built to deliver a major Islamic message of peace, tolerance, and acceptance to people of all faiths. Its 1,096 combined pillars of amethyst and jasper, 82 white marble houses, exhibition pools, Svarovski gold cables, the world-famous prayer hall, and the courtyard with one of the world’s largest marble paintings, make it an ideal place to explore and photograph. The mosque holds the Guinness World Record of a large handmade carpet and also has one of the largest candles in the mosque. Do not miss the calligraphy surrounding the pits of its cities, bound by verses from the Quran and painted with a gold leaf in An-Naskh lettering.
Zayed Mosque achieves Ramadan success:
The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Center has achieved remarkable success in the Ramadan Project, with the Center’s management taking special care of it, with the aim of achieving the highest satisfaction among Muslim visitors, fasting guests, ministers, and visitors. The total number of visitors during the first two days of Ramadan reached 918,221, of which 180,017 were worshipers, 609,930 were guests and 128,274 were guests. Scores of different cultures and societies flocked to the mosque, amid a series of efforts and activities aimed at promoting good values such as living together, tolerance, and respect, painting a beautiful picture of Islam, and creating a peaceful and quiet atmosphere worthy of the holy spirit.
The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque during the holy month of Ramadan saw a significant increase in the number of visitors, especially during the last ten days of the month, and to ensure that all visitors received facilities, the Center’s management instituted well-organized crowded programs.
The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque stands out as one of the largest Muslims in the world, and the only one that takes on a unique connection between Muslims and world cultures. Sheikh Zayed’s idea of the Grand Mosque was to incorporate building styles from different Muslim communities and to celebrate cultural diversity by creating a truly unique and inspiring residence on its foundation.