Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi is the largest mosque in the United Arab Emirates and considered within the Top 10 biggest mosques in the world. The total building area exceeds 22,412 sq. m, about the size of five football fields. Officially opened in the Islamic month of Ramadan in 2007, the mosque accommodates more than 40,000 worshippers.
The interior is spectacular, with 1,000 columns, gold glass, and a wall featuring the 99 names of Allah. The beautiful mosque is completely clad in the finest white marble covering an area of more than 22,000sq m. The mosque has four minarets with a height of about 107 metres each and consists of 57 domes covering the outside yards. All the domes of the mosque are decorated with white marble and the interior decor was made of the white gypsum. Twenty seven other varieties of marble were used in the building. The best types of the colored floral marble and mosaics have been used to adorn the several walls, pillars and the courtyard of the mosque which is about 17,000 sq m.
While not the largest mosque in the world it does have a couple of record-breaking features, both of which cost over $8million. The mosque has achieved three entries into the Guinness Book of World Records with the largest carpet, the biggest chandelier and the largest dome of its kind in the world.The world’s largest carpet: it covers the floor of the main prayer hall at the Sheikh Zayed Mosque. A 6,000 sq m hand-made Persian carpet, said to be the biggest in the world… 1200 Iranian women spent 2 years weaving the carpet, weighing in at a huge 45 tonnes and created with over 2 billion knots.
The world’s biggest dome: The main dome is also “the biggest” mosque dome in the world, 75 metres high with a 32.2-metre diameter.
The world’s largest chandelier: The world’s biggest Swarovski crystal bejeweled gold-plated chandelier, finished in gold, holding 40 million pieces of crystal… Housed in the main prayer hall, it is 15-metre tall, 10-metre in diameter and weighs 9 tonnes.
The Sheikh Zayed Mosque is not off-limits to non-Muslims.
