Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque – The Milestone Inspired By A Caliphate

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By the side of Abu Dhabi, you will never miss the spectacle of this majestic landmark, the largest in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the six largest in the world and one of the most beautiful structures that I have ever imagined – Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.
This national highlight is run by Sunni, completed its construction in 2007, initiated  and named after the late His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan – the First President and the ‘father of the UAE’. This is also the buried place of the late his highness.
The construction of this mosque involved approximately 3,000 employees from 38 well known companies from Italy, Morocco, Germany, Turkey, China, India, Iran, Greece and of course, the UAE. 
Allow me to take you all the way through the fine points of this mosque, my friend...  
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
 - one of the most beautiful in the world!
To illustrate the essence of Islam and the tolerance
The attitude of the founder, this mosque is open to all
nationalities and religions for educational tours
The site is 22,400 square meters
The exterior of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque has 1,000 columns. 
That is visibly of traditional Turkish design.
These are made of red agate, amethyst ... 
... abalone shells, mother of pearls ...
... colored floral marbles and mosaics decorated with white
marbles ...
... and ceramic to maintain their 'enduring' qualities! 
The ablution area.
Marbles, marbles, marbles!
The main prayer hall, people!
This hall can easily accommodate 8,000 worshippers
Marking the world's largest chandelier hanging
under the main dome.  Made of gold (wohoo! Real gold, peeps!), 
thousands of Swarovski and glass work. 10 meters diameter, 
15 meters high and nine tonnes, this beauty cost AED30 million and
I counted that this main prayer hall has seven similar but slightly
smaller chandeliers!  
The world's largest one piece hand-knotted carpet!
Designed by Ali Khaliqi, hand-knotted by 1,200 artisans.
Made in Mashhadin, a popular village in Iran for fine carpets
 and costs another AED30 million! Yeaw!
This is the Qibla Wall.
Featuring the 99 great names of Allah
The Mihrab
There are 98 white with a floral design of marble columns 
in this main prayer hall
The main door, heavy as 2.2 tonnes,
seven meters wide and 12.2 meters high
And ... this is the courtyard where you can appreciate
 four minarets standing beautifully at four corners of this mosque 
By 8,000 worshippers in the main prayer hall, 2,500 at the corridors, 1,500 in the female prayer hall, 25,000 at the courtyard and 3,000 at the entrance hall, Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque can accommodate approximately 40,000 worshippers.
I sat at the courtyard and found one word to describe this ... stunning ... !

Comments

  1. Anonymous7 February 2012 at 23:01

    Again another beautiful photo from you. I was there last 2 years but I envy you with your amazing shot. I could not agree more with you. It was amazing. I did perform prayer there. Did you have a chance to snap photo of the unique Aldar HQ building?

    p/s forgot to introduce myself. I'm American Muslim. I love to travel.

    ReplyDelete
  2. trulyamybooksgallery8 February 2012 at 11:17

    Hi there! REALLY nice to know you .... :))

    Thank you again for your nice comment ... :)) For the shots I should be thankful for the great weather during my visit there! Hey, am sure you must have taken nice shots too as the mosque is a beauty by itself!

    Ya, I managed to snap few photos of Aldar HQ building but it was way too far and it can't do justice to my 'storytelling' (like real, huh! ha-ha). Really hope that one day I have an opportunity to stand right under the building for more shots. Indeed, it is one interesting building too, right!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous9 February 2012 at 10:15

    As I'm single with no commitment I can travel whenever I want to. I work hard, earn money and my priority is travel to look at other places and understand their way of living and culture. Learn to appreciate Allah creation and reason behind it. I was traveling from Abu Dhabi to Dubai when I saw Aldar HQ. I did not have a chance to snap the picture of Aldar HQ . Took a peep at Yas Marina F1 circuit. I'm a big fan of F1 !.
    Dubai is too develop. All the new building came up at almost the same time. Look rather chaotic. But it is a happening city though. Have a chance to watch Cirque du Soleil there and took a roller coaster ride on the desert close to border of Oman with 4X4. Amazing experience.

    Sarah, Houston TX

    ReplyDelete
  4. trulyamybooksgallery10 February 2012 at 11:51

    Hi Sarah, nice knowing you!

    You must have travelled almost to every part of the world! Thats great! And ya, thats the best part - to learn to appreciate Allah's creation! Yes! Yas Marina F1 is another interesting place and we tried the F1 driving and guess what! Even the virtual car, I almost vomit ha-ha! Or may be the next time, we should try the real one + the real driver! Auww! That will be fun! he-he!

    USA is still one of the best countries to enjoy journey on the road! Along the hiway, biway it has a lot to offer. Years ago, we drove from New Hampshire-Indiana-Vermont-Quebec, Canada (wonderful place!). Then continue to Washington DC but didnt manage to go to Rhode Islands due to the bad weather. It was one of the best trips! I guess even given a year, we still can't cover the whole of United States of America!

    ReplyDelete

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