Sandy Iggy in the world's 3rd largest mosque

 

While mosque sightseeing (aka mosque hopping) is common to Sandy Iggy, only recently she has visited the largest mosque in the UAE and incidentally the third largest mosque in the world --- Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. 

Otherwise known as the "Grand Mosque" is named after the founder and first president of UAE, the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan. His remains is buried in the same compound and is off-limits to photo-taking.

Footwears must be removed before entering the main prayer hall.

The security officers were so strict especially to those in the main hall; Sandy Iggy managed to pose quickly. Notice the Iranian carpet, the largest hand-knotted carpet in the world.

Here's a prayer clock which provides the details of prayer timings at a given day.

The counterpart of Christians'/Catholics' altar and pulpit. The Arabic calligraphy details the 99 qualities/names of Allah.

One of the gold-plated chandeliers in the main prayer hall.

The largest chandelier in the world hangs at the main dome. 

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque deserves to be visited over and again even for non-Muslims. It is a great deal to appreciate the UAE culture and learn about Islam as there are free guided tours everyday.

[Click here for more photos.]

Sandy Iggy's mosque-hoppping

If there's such a thing as mosque-hopping, Sandy Iggy just did that. "Hopping" though didn't mean that she went in any of these interesting structures. Right after getting out of Saint Joseph Church, there's a neighbor mosque in Kaniza corner.

The succeeding photos were taken in the next 15 minutes or so. And guess what? Those were like (just) 20% of what she managed to catch in such timeframe.

While it's not too obvious in other mosques, notice the megaphones in each which are instrumental to the five times call to prayer in a day. In Sandy Iggy's homeland, she remembers the church bell's ringing to signal a time of the day.

The last photo was taken at distant hour just to show how more appealing the mosques are at night. How strange that when something's abundant in our area, we tend to ignore it. Maybe, it's time to put an official album of the UAE mosques (there probably are hundreds in the Emirate of the Abu Dhabi alone!), all of the seven emirates. And of course, it's about time to send a postcard-like Sandy Iggy by the mosque shot to her lovely sisters. :)

By the mosque

Sandy Iggy had her first photo by the mosque last weekend. We emphasize the "first" since we can anticipate a collection of snapshots and angles of her with the plenty of mosques in the UAE. This one is beside St. Joseph Church, a Catholic church where Sandy Iggy hears the mass.

In Kaniza area in Abu Dhabi, near the Al Khubairat British School, you will find the catholic, protestant, orthodox churches and a mosque few meters apart from each other. This goes to show the freedom (and respect) of exercise of faith in the lower gulf.

While Sandy Iggy had seen mosques in and out of the UAE, she has never been inside any of these. She looks forward to experiencing the Grand Zayed Mosque where non-Muslims are allowed. Soon.

Miss Iggy and the Blue Mosque

After seeing the Blue Mosque on countless postcards in souvenir shops, Miss Iggy knew she had to go and see it for herself. 

Hmm... it doesn't really look that blue, Miss Iggy pondered. The tour guide explained that the mosque's original name is Sultan Ahmet Camii, but received the unofficial name "Blue Mosque" from tourists because of the tens of thousands of blue tiles in the interior walls. 

Euro Iggy was amazed at its grandness: it has more minarets than any other Istanbul mosque, a courtyard that's bigger than all other Ottoman mosques, 260 windows and a central prayer space that can host thousands of worshippers. 

Wash area where worshippers have to wash themselves before praying