The Uganda National Mosque is a
mosque
A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...
located at
Kampala Hill
Kampala Hill, commonly referred to as Old Kampala, is a hill in the centre of Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city.
Location
Kampala Hill is bordered by Makerere to the north, Nakasero to the east, Mengo to the south and Namirembe to th ...
in the Old Kampala area of
Kampala
Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and R ...
,
Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The ...
. It is the largest mosque in East Africa
in a country where, as of 2014, 14% of the population is Muslim. Completed in 2006, it seats up to 15,000 worshipers and can hold another 1,100 in the gallery, while the terrace will cater for another 3,500. Colonel
Muammar Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by '' The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...
of
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...
commissioned the mosque as a gift to Uganda, and for the benefit of the
Muslim population. Uganda has many mosques but this one is a skyscraper mosque.
History
The construction of the mosque began in 1972 and was initially called the Old Kampala National Mosque. Construction halted in 1976 and restarted again in 2001.
The completed mosque was opened officially in June 2007 under the name Gaddafi National Mosque, and housed the head offices of the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council. It was renamed "Uganda National Mosque" in 2013 following the
death of Colonel Gaddafi as the new Libyan administration was "reluctant to rehabilitate the mosque under the old name."
The mosque's minaret contains 304 stairs to reach the top.
Gallery
See also
*
Gaddafi Mosque
Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi is the largest mosque in Tanzania and the second largest in East Africa after the Uganda National Mosque in Uganda. It is located in the Tanzanian capital of Dodoma.
It was named after the former Libyan Brotherly Lead ...
, Dodoma, Tanzania
References
External links
*
Gaddafi National Mosque Uganda Museum.
{{Muammar Gaddafi
Mosques in Uganda
Buildings and structures in Kampala
Mosques completed in 2006
2016 establishments in Uganda
Muammar Gaddafi