Bait-ul-Mukarram Masjid

"Bait-ul-MUkarram Masjid (Bangladesh)"

Baitul Mukarram (Arabic: بيت المكرّم‎; Bengali: বায়তুল মোকাররম; The Holy House) is the national mosque of Bangladesh. Located at the heart of Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh, the mosque was completed in 1968. The mosque has a capacity of 30,000, giving it the respectable position of being the 10th biggest mosque in the world. However the mosque is constantly getting overcrowded. This especially occurs during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which has resulted in the Bangladeshi government having to add extensions to the mosque, thus increasing the capacity to at least 40,000.

Bait-ul-Mukarram Masjid

Bait-ul-Mukarram Masjid

Bait-ul-Mukarram Masjid

Bait-ul-Mukarram Masjid

Babri Masjid

"Babri Masjid (India)"

The Babri Mosque (Hindi: बाबरी मस्जिद, Urdu: بابری مسجد, translation: Mosque of Babur), was a mosque in Ayodhya, a city in the Faizabad district of Uttar Pradesh, on Ramkot Hill ("Rama's fort"). It was destroyed in 1992 when a political rally developed into a riot involving 150,000 people, despite a commitment to the Indian Supreme Court by the rally organisers that the mosque would not be harmed. More than 2,000 people were killed in ensuing riots in many major cities in India and Pakistan including Mumbai and Delhi. The mosque was constructed in 1527 by order of Babur, the first Mughal emperor of India and was named after him. Before the 1940s, the mosque was also called Masjid-i-Janmasthan (Hindi: मस्जिद ए जन्मस्थान, Urdu: مسجدِ جنمستھان, translation: "mosque of the birthplace"), acknowledging the site as the birthplace of the Hindu deity, Lord Rama.

The Babri Mosque was one of the largest mosques in Uttar Pradesh, a state in India with some 31 million Muslims Although there were several older mosques in the surrounding district, including the Hazrat Bal Mosque constructed by the Shariqi kings, the Babri Mosque became the largest, due to the importance of the disputed site. Numerous petitions by Hindus to the courts resulted in Hindu worshippers of Rama gaining access to the site.

The political, historical and socio-religious debate over the history and location of the Babri Mosque and whether a previous temple was demolished or modified to create it, is known as the Ayodhya Debate.

Babri Masjid

Babri Masjid

Babri Masjid

Masjid-e-Jinn

"Masjid-e-Jinn (Makkah; Saudi Arabia)"

According to tradition, this is a Mosque situated on the Al Haram street, where once the Holy Prophet (SAW) was reciting the Holy Qura'an. A group of Jinn passing by heard the recitation and stopped to hear more.

Masjid-e-Jinn

Masjid-e-Jinn

Masjid-e-Jinn

Masjid-e-Jinn

Masjid-e-Jinn

Badshahi Masjid

"Badshahi Masjid: Lahore"

The Badshahi Mosque (Urdu: بادشاھی مسجد) or the 'King's Mosque' in Lahore, commissioned by the sixth Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in 1671 and completed in 1673, is the second largest mosque in Pakistan and South Asia and the fifth largest mosque in the world. Epitomising the beauty, passion and grandeur of the Mughal era, it is Lahore's most famous landmark and a major tourist attraction.

Capable of accommodating 5,000 worshippers in its main prayer hall and a further 95,000 in its courtyard and porticoes, it remained the largest mosque in the world from 1673 to 1986 (a period of 313 years), when overtaken in size by the completion of the Faisal Mosque in Islamabad. Today, it remains the second largest mosque in Pakistan and South Asia and the fifth largest mosque in the world after the Masjid al-Haram(Grand Mosque) of Mecca, the Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Prophet's Mosque) in Medina, theHassan II Mosque in Casablanca and the Faisal Mosque in Islamabad.

To appreciate its large size, the four minarets of the Badshahi Mosque are 13.9 ft (4.2 m) taller than those of the Taj Mahal and the main platform of the Taj Mahal can fit inside the 278,784 sq ft (25,899.9 m²) courtyard of the Badshahi Mosque, which is the largest mosque courtyard in the world.

In 1993, the Government of Pakistanrecommended the inclusion of the Badshahi Mosque as a World Heritage Site in UNESCO's World Heritage List, where it has been included in Pakistan's Tentative List for possible nomination to the World Heritage List by UNESCO.

Badshahi Masjid

Badshahi Masjid

Badshahi Masjid

Badshahi Masjid

Badshahi Masjid

Shah Faisal Masjid

"Shah Faisal Masjid: Islamabad"

The Faisal Mosque is the largest mosque inPakistan and is located in the national capital city ofIslamabad.

Faisal Mosque is conceived as the National Mosqueof Pakistan. It is the largest mosque in South Asiaand one of the largest mosques in the world.

The Faisal Mosque is named after the late KingFaisal bin Abdul-Aziz of Saudi Arabia, who supported and financed the project.

History:

The impetus for the mosque began in 1966 when the late King Faisal bin Abdul-Aziz supported the initiative of the Pakistani Government to build a national mosque in Islamabad during an official visit to Pakistan. In 1969, an international competition was held in which architects from 17 countries submitted 43 proposals. After four days of deliberation, Turkisharchitect Vedat Dalokay's design was chosen. Construction of the mosque began in 1976 by National Construction of Pakistan, led by Azim Khan and was funded by the government of Saudi Arabia, at a cost of over 130 millionSaudi riyals (approximately 120 million USD today). King Faisal bin Abdul Aziz was instrumental in the funding, and both the mosque and the road leading to it were named after him after his assassination in 1975. The mosque was completed in 1986, and used to house the International Islamic University. Many conservative Muslims criticised the design at first for its non-conventional design and lack of the traditional dome structure, but virtually all criticism was eventually silenced by the mosque's scale, form, and setting against the Margalla Hills upon completion.

Location:

The mosque is located in the capital of Pakistan,Islamabad. It is situated at the north end of Faisal Avenue, putting it at the northernmost end of the city and at the foot of Margalla Hills, the westernmost foothills of theHimalayas.

Design:

The Faisal Mosque is the work of famous Turkish architect,Vedat Dalokay who won the Aga Khan Architectural Award with this project. The mosque's relatively unusual design fuses contemporary lines with the more traditional look of an Arab Bedouin's tent, with its large triangular prayer hall and four minarets. However, unlike traditional masjid design, it lacks a dome. The minarets borrow their design from Turkish tradition and are thin and pencil like. The interior of this prayer hall holds a very large chandelier and its walls are decorated with mosaics and calligraphy by the famous Pakistani artist Sadequain. The mosaic pattern adorns the west wall, and has the kalimah written in earlyKufic script, repeated in mirror image pattern.

The mosque's architecture is a departure from the long history of South Asian Islamic architecture. It is one of the most outstanding and modern Islamic architecture examples in the world.

Size:

The Faisal Mosque was the largest mosque in the world from 1986 until 1993, when it was overtaken in size by the completion of the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, Morocco. Subsequent expansions of the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) of Mecca and the Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Prophet's Mosque) inMedina, Saudi Arabia during the 1990s relegated Faisal Mosque to fourth place in terms of size.

It has a covered area of 5,000 m² (54,000 sq ft). It can accommodate 10,000 worshipers in its main prayer hall, 24,000 in its porticoes, 40,000 in its courtyard, and another 200,000 in its adjoining grounds. Although its covered main prayer hall is smaller than that of the Hassan II Mosque inCasablanca (the world's third largest mosque), Faisal Mosque has the third largest capacity of accommodating worshipers in its adjoining grounds after the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) of Mecca, the Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Prophet's Mosque) in Medina. Each of the Mosque's four minarets are 80 m (260 ft) high (the tallest minarets in South Asia) and measure 10 x 10 m in circumference.

Shah Faisal Masjid

Shah Faisal Masjid

Shah Faisal Masjid

Shah Faisal Masjid

Shah Faisal Masjid

Blue Masjid

"Blue Masjid: Istanbul; Turkey"

The Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Turkish:Sultanahmet Camii) is a historical mosque inIstanbul, the largest city in Turkey and the capital of the Ottoman Empire (from 1453 to 1923). The mosque is popularly known as the Blue Mosque for the blue tiles adorning the walls of its interior.

It was built between 1609 and 1616, during the rule of Ahmed I. Like many other mosques, it also comprises a tomb of the founder, amadrasah and a hospice. While still used as a mosque, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque has also become a popular tourist attraction.

Blue Masjid

Blue Masjid

Blue Masjid

Blue Masjid

Blue Masjid