Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Mosque (), also known as Al Ain Grand Mosque, Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Grand Mosque, or simply the Sheikh Khalifa Mosque (), is the largest

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

in the city of

Al Ain Al Ain () is a city in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and the seat of the administrative division of the Al Ain Region. The city is Oman–United Arab Emirates border, bordered to the east by the Omani town of Al-Buraimi. Al A ...

in the

Emirate of Abu Dhabi The Emirate of Abu Dhabi is one of seven Emirates of the United Arab Emirates, emirates that constitute the United Arab Emirates. It is the largest emirate, accounting for 87% of the nation's total land area or . Abu Dhabi also has the second ...

, and one of the largest mosques in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

. Open to the public since 12 April 2021, it is named after

Sheikh Sheikh ( , , , , ''shuyūkh'' ) is an honorific title in the Arabic language, literally meaning "elder (administrative title), elder". It commonly designates a tribal chief or a Muslim ulama, scholar. Though this title generally refers to me ...

Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan (; 7 September 1948 – 13 May 2022) was the second president of the United Arab Emirates and the ruler of Abu Dhabi, serving from November 2004 until his death in May 2022. Khalifa was the eldes ...

, who was the Ruler of Abu Dhabi and

President of the United Arab Emirates The president of the United Arab Emirates (), or the Raʾīs (), is the head of state of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The president and vice presidents are ''de jure'' elected every five years by the Federal Supreme Council, and the prim ...

from November 2004 until his death in May 2022.

History

Construction of the mosque was awarded to Arabian Construction Company for AED 600 million. It started in December 2013, and was initially scheduled for completion in 2016. Formerly, the biggest mosque in use in the city was

that ''That'' is an English language word used for several grammar, grammatical purposes. These include use as an adjective, conjunction (grammar), conjunction, pronoun, adverb and intensifier; it has distance from the speaker, as opposed to words li ...

of Shaikhah Salamah, mother of the late Sheikh

Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan (; 6 May 1918 – 2 November 2004) was an Emirati royal, politician, philanthropist and the founder of the United Arab Emirates. Zayed served as the governor of Eastern Region from 1946 until he became ...

, the father of Sheikh Khalifa. Nearby, a 1000-year-old mosque dated to the

Islamic Golden Age The Islamic Golden Age was a period of scientific, economic, and cultural flourishing in the history of Islam, traditionally dated from the 8th century to the 13th century. This period is traditionally understood to have begun during the reign o ...

, besides other remains relevant to the region's history, was unearthed in September 2018. Its age may make it the oldest mosque in the country. After opening in 2021, Sheikh Tahnoun bin Mohammed Al Nahyan, the Ruler's Representative in

Al Ain Region The Eastern Region (), officially known as Al Ain Region (), is one of three Municipal Regions in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. It forms the southeastern part of the United Arab Emirates. Its main settlement is the eponymous city of Al Ain, locate ...

, offered prayers on 13 May.

Structure

The built-up area of the mosque is occupies an area of , with the total area of the mosque being . With an indoor capacity of 6,433 worshippers, and an outdoor capacity of 14,029, its total capacity would be over 20,000. It has 4

minaret A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...

s measuring about high, which are inspired by the Great Mosque of Samarra. Additionally, there is an arcade which connects the various parts of the mosque and rims the yard with an area of . It was inspired by

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

n and

Umayyad architecture Umayyad architecture developed in the Umayyad Caliphate between 661 and 750, primarily in its heartlands of Syria and Palestine. It drew extensively on the architecture of older Middle Eastern and Mediterranean civilizations including the Sassania ...

Dome

The main feature of the mosque is a huge dome, the largest of its kind in the country, which covers the main prayer-hall. Adorned with verses from the

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

, the dome has an interior height of , an interior diameter of , an exterior diameter of , and a total area of .

References

External links

Visit Al Ain , Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Mosque

Sheikh Khalifa Mosque in Al Ain UAE 24.11.2015
(

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

)
مسجد الشيخ خليفة في العين Sheikh Khalifa Mosque in Al Ain 24.05.2016

Alain Shaikh Khalifa Mosque from inside , Alain Grand Mosque Full Video , 12/4/21/ Opened

Sheikh Khalifa Mosque Alain , , Today Open
(12 Apr 2021)
افتتاح جامع الشيخ خليفة بن زايد في مدينة ⁧ #العين ⁩ ١٢/٤/٢٠٢١ ‏يمثل تحفة معمارية على مستوى العالم

Prayer
of

Eid al-Fitr Eid al-Fitr () is the first of the two main Islamic holidays, festivals in Islam, the other being Eid al-Adha. It falls on the first day of Shawwal, the tenth month of the Islamic calendar. Eid al-Fitr is celebrated by Muslims worldwide becaus ...

at the mosque in 2021 {{Abu Dhabi Mosques in Al Ain Mosques completed in 2021 2021 establishments in the United Arab Emirates 21st-century mosques in the United Arab Emirates Mosque buildings with domes in the United Arab Emirates Mosque buildings with minarets in the United Arab Emirates

History

Structure

Dome

See also

References

External links