In 1992, the then sultan of Oman, Qaboos bin Said Al Said, ordered a large mosque in his country. The following year a competition was held to design the mosque. The construction of the mosque was awarded to the British company Carillion. Soon, a site was allocated for a mosque in Bawshar province near Muscat, and construction began in December 1994. The construction of the religious object takes exactly six and a half years. The mosque was inaugurated on May 4, 2001.
Non-Muslims, mainly foreign tourists, are allowed to visit the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque. They can visit the mosque every day, except Friday, from 8:30 until 11:00 am. Entry is free. All visitors are required to dress appropriately for places of worship, strictly adhere to the dress code, and women are required to cover their heads. Religious clothing can be rented from the gift shop at the entrance.
A garden with several fountains has been built at the east entrance of the complex. In general, the mosque is surrounded by large and small trees on all four sides.
The mosque is built on an area of 416,000 m2. The area of the complex itself is 40,000 m2. The mosque was built with different types of stones. The doors and windows are made of wood and glass with exquisite decorations.
About 300,000 tons of Indian sandstone were imported for use in construction. Many areas of the mosque are made of white, brown and gray marble.
This mosque is the largest and tallest mosque in Oman. British daily newspaper "The Telegraph'' included Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque to the list of the 25 most beautiful mosques in the world. There are also mosques named after Sultan Qaboos in other cities of the country - Sohar and Salalah.
Sultan Qaboos built this mosque as a gift to the people of Oman to celebrate the 30th anniversary of his rule.
Five minarets are built around the mosque complex. They symbolize the five pillars of Islam - shahada, salah (prayer), sawn (fasting), hajj (pilgrimage) and zakat (almsgiving). The height of the main minaret you see is about 91.5 meters. Other minarets are 45.5 meters high and are located in each corner of the complex.
The main prayer hall of the mosque is intended for men. The hall is square in shape. The length of each side is 74.4 meters. The height of the central dome is 50 meters. The main hall and the dome are magnificently decorated inside and are very beautiful.
The prayer hall is illuminated by 35 chandeliers. 34 of them are “small” chandeliers of the same design. The large chandelier under the dome is 14 meters high and was produced by the Italian company Faustig. Weighing 8.5 tons, this chandelier includes 600,000 Swarovski crystals, 1,122 bulbs and a staircase for maintenance inside the chandelier. It was considered the largest chandelier in the world at that time. A larger chandelier was later installed at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Many parts of the Grand Mosque are covered with hand-made mosaic patterns and colorful geometric patterns. On the walls of prayer halls, wooden doors and other areas, verses of the Quran and the names of Allah are written in Thuluth and Diwani scripts.
The main feature of the interior of this hall is the prayer carpet covering the floor. The weight of this carpet, consisting of 1 billion 700 million knots, is approximately 21 tons. The carpet was produced by the Iranian Carpet Company according to the traditions of the classical Azerbaijani schools of Tabriz and Isfahan, at the order of the Sultanate of Oman. Over 6,000 workers hand-weave the carpet using 28 dyes in various shades, most of which are derived from plants. The length and width of the carpet are more than 70 and 60 meters, respectively, and cover the area of 4343 m2 of the prayer hall. Like the chandelier, this carpet was once considered the largest carpet in the world. Later, the carpet at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi took the lead.
More than 6,500 people can pray at the same time in the men's hall. The women's prayer hall is designed for 750 people. The main part in the courtyard of the mosque complex has space for 8,000 people to pray. Taking into account the places in the inner courtyard and passages of the mosque, it is possible to worship here in total up to 20,000 people.
In addition to prayer halls, there is an Islamic Cultural Center, a lecture hall, a two-story library, several ablution rooms, gardens and fountains inside the complex. The lecture hall regularly hosts events open to the public. Majority of the Omani population are followers of Ibadism, a branch inside Islam.
Women's prayer hall is much smaller than the men's hall and is designed for worship with about 10 times less people.
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18 сен 2024
