The Sheikh Zayed Mosque, or Grand Mosque - Abu Dhabi

The Sheikh Zayed Mosque is the third largest in the world according to the General Secretariat Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC), the Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture in Turkey. The two mosques in Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia are larger. The mosque is located between Mussafah bridge and Maqta bridge in the emirate of Abu Dhabi.

The mosque has 82 domes all of traditional Moroccan design - all decorated with Italian white marble. The Mosque has 1,096 columns in its exterior. The floral design in the courtyard is made from 28 kinds of marble.

The 22,412 square meter site equates to around the size of five football fields. The 4 minarets are 107 meters high.

Richard took this shot. Beautiful.

24-caret gold and marble throughout

About 40,000 worshippers can be accommodated, 5000 worshippers in the main hall.


Seven 24-caret gold-plated chandeliers imported from Germany, all with thousands of Swarovski crystals. The largest of these, which hangs in the main dome of the Mosque, is contains one million Swarovski crystals. It is also the largest chandelier in the world; it measures 10 meters in diameter, 15 meters in height, and eight tonnes in weight. The seven chandeliers in the mosque cost about AED 30 million.


It has 96 cloumns in the main prayer hall which are embedded with more than 20,000 handmade marble panels encrusted with semi-precious stones, including lapis lazuli, red agate, amethyst, abalone shell and mother of pearl.

Centered on the wall under the largest dome is engraved Allah.

"It is a known fact that every language has one or more terms that are used in reference to God and sometimes to lesser deities. This is not the case with Allah. Allah is the personal name of the One true God. Nothing else can be called Allah. The term has no plural or gender. This shows its uniqueness when compared with the word god which can be made plural, gods, or feminine, goddess. It is interesting to notice that Allah is the personal name of God in Aramaic, the language of Jesus and a sister language of Arabic."
- http://www.allah.org/

Around it are the 99 other names of Allah. This includes expressions such as The King, The Murciful, The Most Holy, and many more.

Mark, Naseem (their driver), and Richard

Notice that Naseem and Mark are holding hands? The holding of hands by Muslim men is aninteresting social custom. It means the person you are talking with is important to you andconsiders you important. You have each other's undivided attention. It is usually done during a one-on-one conversation, or by someone who wants to get, keep and hold your attention whilehe is talking with someone else -- "Hold on a minute, you're next." It has no greater meaningthan simply being a social custom some Muslim men use to gain and maintain someone's attention and trust.

The main dome is the largest in the world and is 87 metres high with a diameter of 32.8 metres. The main dome's outer shell measures 32.7 meters in diameter and stands 70 meters high from the inside and 85 meters from the outside - the largest of its kind, according to the Turkey Research Center for Islamic History and Culture.


Full name of the mosque is Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Mosque, named after the first president and founder of the UAE, who was buried at the Mosque site after his death on 03 November 2004. This is his grave site below.


An Iranian carpet placed in the main prayer hall, woven by about 1200 Iranian women, is 7,119 sq m and is the largest hand-woven carpet in the world, made out of 35 tons of wool and cotton. Cost AED 30 million, delivered to Abu Dhabi in early August 2007.

Photos: Taken by Catherine