The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque () is located in Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the U.A.E. The largest mosque in the country, it is the key place of worship for daily prayers. A smaller replica of the grand mosque exists in the Indonesian city of Surakarta.
History
The Grand Mosque was constructed between 1994 and 2007 and was inaugurated in December 2007. The building complex measures approximately , covering an area of more than , excluding exterior landscaping and vehicle parking. The main axis of the building is rotated about 12° south of true west, aligning it in the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
The project was launched by the late president of the U.A.E., Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who wanted to establish a structure that would unite the cultural diversity of the Islamic world with the historical and modern values of architecture and art. In 2004, Sheikh Zayed died and was buried in the courtyard of the mosque.
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Center (SZGMC) offices are located in the west minarets. SZGMC manages the day-to-day operations and serves as a center of learning and discovery through its educational cultural activities and visitor programs. The library, located in the northeast minaret, serves the community with classic books and publications addressing a range of Islamic subjects: sciences, civilization, calligraphy, the arts, and coins, including some rare publications. The collection comprises material in a broad range of languages, including Arabic, English, French, Italian, Spanish, German, and Korean. For two years running, it was voted the world's second favourite landmark by TripAdvisor.
Design and construction
The mosque was built under the guidance and supervision of Sheikh Zayed, who was buried here after his death in 2004. The mosque was designed under the management of the Syrian architect Youssef Abdelke, and there were other architectural designers from Syria who completed the design and worked on developing it, namely Basem Barghouti, Moataz Al-Halabi, and Imad Malas.
The mosque's architect Yusef Abdelki took inspiration from a number of sources: the Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi Mosque in Alexandria, designed by Mario Rossi in the 1920s; the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore, Pakistan; and other references of Persian, Mughal, and Indo-Islamic architecture. The dome layout and floorplan of the mosque was inspired by the Badshahi Mosque. Its archways are quintessentially Moorish, and its minarets classically Arab.
In a joint-venture between Italian contractors Impregilo and Rizzani de Eccher, more than 3,000 workers and 38 sub-contracting companies were conscripted in its construction. The mosque was completed under a second contract by a Joint Venture between ACC and Six Construct (part of Belgian company BESIX Group) between 2004 and 2007. Natural materials were chosen for much of its design and construction due to their long-lasting qualities, including marble stone, gold, semi-precious stones, crystals and ceramics. Artisans and materials came from many countries including Syria, especially from Damascus and Aleppo, and some other countries such as India, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Pakistan, Malaysia, Iran, China, United Kingdom, New Zealand, North Macedonia and the U.A.E.
Dimensions and statistics
The mosque is large enough to accommodate over 40,100 worshippers, while the main prayer hall can hold over 7,000. There are two smaller prayer halls, with a capacity of 1,500 each, one of which is the women's prayer hall.
There are four minarets on the four corners of the courtyard which rise about in height. The courtyard, with its floral design, measures about , and is considered to be the largest example of marble mosaic in the world.
Marble used in the construction included: Sivec from Prilep, North Macedonia was used on the external cladding ( of cladding has been used on the mosque, including the minarets) Lasa from Laas, South Tyrol, Italy was used in the internal elevations Makrana from Makrana, India was used in the annexes and offices Acquabianca and Bianco P from Italy East White and Ming Green from China
To compare, the King Faisal Mosque of Sharjah, formerly the largest mosque in Sharjah and country, measures .
Architectural features
The carpet in the hall is considered by many to be the world's largest carpet made by Iran's Carpet Company and designed by Iranian artist Ali Khaliqi. This carpet measures , and was made by around 1,200-1,300 carpet knotters. The weight of this carpet is 35 ton and is predominantly made from wool (originating from New Zealand and Iran). There are 2,268,000,000 knots within the carpet and it took approximately two years to complete.