Shiek Zayed Mosque جامع الشيخ زايد
The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is a prominent Islamic monument in the Emirates and represents the vision of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, may God have mercy on him, who passed away in November 2004. Sheikh Zayed had a future vision for a mosque of roses and Arabic designs, which we see in the designs and decorations of the mosque, and also to be a prominent and important beacon and landmark in Islamic culture and sciences. Planning for the construction of the mosque began in the late eighties, but the actual construction phase began on November 5, 1996 and ended in 2007 with Eid al-Adha, when the mosque opened its doors to worshipers to perform Eid prayers in the year 1428 AH (December 19, 2007). The mosque’s capacity is more than 50,000 worshipers. It took 11 years to build and its design bears the global fingerprints of artists and craftsmen from all over the world and natural materials extracted from various countries such as Italy, Germany, Morocco, India, Turkey, Iran, China, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Greece. More than 3,000 workers and 38 contracting companies cooperated in building the largest mosque in the United Arab Emirates under the supervision of engineers Khawla Al Sulaimani and Sami Qazzaz, and the interior decorations of the ceiling of the main hall were supervised by Moroccan engineer Soufiane Saleh. Natural materials were used in the design and decoration of the mosque due to their aesthetics and ability to last for longer periods; these materials include marble, precious stones, crystal and ceramics.