Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is located in Abu Dhabi, UAE. It is the largest mosque in the country. During Eid it is visited by more than 40,000 people.

What is the history of Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque?

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque was constructed between 1996 and 2007. The construction of the mosque was launched by the then President of UAE, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. Hence, it is named after him. The architecture of the mosque too inspiration from a number of sources including the Mughal and Persian architecture.

What are the special features of the mosque?

• The carpet in the hall is the world largest carpet. It was made by an Iranian company. The weight of the carpet is 35 tonnes. It is made of wool from New Zealand. And the carpet was hand knotted.
• There are seven imported chandeliers in the mosque. One of them is the world third largest chandelier. The chandeliers are glided with gold.
• There are 96 columns in the prayer hall. They are made of marble and inlaid with mother of pearl. The mother of pearl is a material produced by molluscs as an inner shell. It is also the material of which pearls are made.
• 99 names of Allah are written in the walls in calligraphy styles. Three calligraphy styles were used. They were Naskhi, Kufic and Thuluth.

What are the key architectural elements in the mosque?

• The most noticeable architectural element is the dome of the mosque. There are 82 domes in the mosque. The central dome, located in the main prayer hall is the largest. These domes are made of pure white marble, onion shaped crowns and are decorated with gold glass mosaic.
• There are four minarets in the mosque. Each minaret is 106 metres tall. The architecture of the minarets reflects Moroccan, Mameluke and Andalusian styles.