Around the World in 8000 days: Abu Dhabi and the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Abu Dhabi and the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi

I mentioned in the last post that one thing we did in Abu Dhabi was to visit the mosque, and what a mosque it is.

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is still very new, having been started in the 1990s and finished in 2007, but it is already a very popular place to visit, both for religious and tourism purposes.

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi

The late Sheikh, after which it is named, wanted the mosque to be a place of religious learning and education. As part of that, it contains a large library, which is intended "to engage and promote intercultural discourse and interaction in order to benefit from global knowledge and generate new and scholarly publications through rigorous and scientific research methods."

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi

The building is huge, with the potential to accommodate 10,000 worshippers inside and a further 30,000 outside. The outside is finished in Macedonian white marble. There are four minarets and eighty-two domes.

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi

Understandably for a place of religion, they are quite strict about what clothes are suitable. Ladies need to be in a long skirt or trousers, with long sleeves, all of which must be loose fitting, and will have to wear a headscarf.

Men are a bit less strict, but cannot wear shorts or sleeveless tops. Nic was OK, but I was just off, so to go inside, I had to don a black abaya.

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi

This was fine, except that to borrow it, I was expected to leave some form of identification as a security. Of course, that happened to be the day that I didn't have anything on me. They suggested that I could get my driver to leave his, but of course I didn't have a driver either.

In the end, they let me leave my hotel room card (it didn't have the name of the hotel or the room number on it), so that was OK. But if you go, do bear in mind that you may need to have something suitable with you to leave.

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi

Once inside, the outer areas are still very white, with a huge courtyard and some nice subtle decoration. They have intentionally used features from many different forms of Islamic culture, and have used materials from around the world, so whilst clearly Islamic, there is a nice diversity to the mosque.

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi

The star attraction for many, is the main prayer hall, although for me personally, I wasn't overly struck by it; I thought it all looked a bit mismatched and gaudy. The world's largest carpet took two years to design, hand knot, and weave the pieces together. The chandeliers are huge, with the main one weighing 12 tons, and the two smaller ones 8 tons each.