Jama Masjid,

Bhilai Bhilai is a city in Durg district of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Chhattisgarh, in eastern central India. With population exceeding 1 million, it is the second-largest urban area in Chhattisgarh after Raipur. Bhil ...

is one of the largest

mosques A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, i ...

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (, ) is a landlocked state in Central India. It is the ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the seventeenth most populous. It borders seven states – Uttar Pradesh to the north, Madhya Prade ...

, India, with a capacity to accommodate more than 3000 worshippers at a time. It is the first mosque in the world to be built in the shape of the word ''"Ya Allah"'' in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

script. It took three years for the construction of the mosque which was completed in 1967.

History

Before the construction of the mosque the

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

of Bhilai used to pray in their respective localities and gathered only on

Eid al-Fitr , nickname = Festival of Breaking the Fast, Lesser Eid, Sweet Eid, Sugar Feast , observedby = Muslims , type = Islamic , longtype = Islamic , significance = Commemoration to mark the end of fasting in Ramadan , dat ...

and

Eid al-Adha Eid al-Adha () is the second and the larger of the two main holidays celebrated in Islam (the other being Eid al-Fitr). It honours the willingness of Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son Ismail (Ishmael) as an act of obedience to Allah's co ...

to offer common prayer near Nehru house of Culture in sector-1, Bhilai. The Muslim executives of

Bhilai steel plant The Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP), located in Bhilai, in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, is India's first and main producer of steel rails, as well as a major producer of wide steel plates and other steel products. The plant also produces steel and ...

formed a committee and applied for its registration. It was registered as Bhilai Nagar Masjid Trust under

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

public Trust act 1951. The Bhilai steel plant allotted a plot measuring 12000 square feet in sector-6 to this committee for the Mosque. The construction began in 1964 and was completed in 1967. The first Friday prayer was held in the new mosque on 31 March 1967.

Architecture and design

The special design of the mosque has created a history in the world of Islamic architecture through its monumental elevation which forms an Arabic word Yā Allāh (یا الله). The 80 feet high

minar A minaret (; ar, منارة, translit=manāra, or ar, مِئْذَنة, translit=miʾḏana, links=no; tr, minare; fa, گل‌دسته, translit=goldaste) is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally ...

shapes ‘''Ya’'' while the concrete walls of the first floor with a slab above in the shape of ''tashdeed'' projects ''‘

Allah Allah (; ar, الله, translit=Allāh, ) is the common Arabic word for God. In the English language, the word generally refers to God in Islam. The word is thought to be derived by contraction from '' al- ilāh'', which means "the god", an ...

’''. The marble dome at the top further enhances the beauty of this unique mosque in the world. It was designed by the architect Khairuddin Ahmad Siddiqui, Siddiqui and associates,

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India b ...

. The mosque is 59 feet high, including the 16 feet high dome, 120 feet long and 100 feet wide. The Eid-gah adjacent to the mosque is 250 feet long and 230 feet wide. Marble tiles have been fixed inside and outside of the mosque’s minar. The mosque is maintained by the founding committee Bhilai Nagar Masjid Trust.

Imams

Alhaj Hafiz Sayed Ajmaluddin Haider served as the first

Imam Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...

of this Mosque from 1968 to 2013. Born in

Patna Patna ( ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...

in 1942, his family moved permanently to

Durg Durg is a city in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, east of the Shivnath River and is part of the Durg-Bhilai urban agglomeration. With an urban population of 1,064,077, Durg-Bhilai is the second largest urban area in Chhattisgarh after Raipur ...

in 1952. His father, Maulana Afzaluddin Haidar became Imam of Jama Masjid Durg since 1952 whose

mazaar A ''mazār'' ( ar, مزار), or ''darīh'' () in the Maghreb, is a mausoleum or shrine in some places of the world, typically that of a saint or notable religious leader. Medieval Arabic texts may also use the words ''mašhad'' or ''maqām'' ...

is in Supela Kabristan, Bhilai. Alhaj Hafiz Sayed Ajmaluddin Haider is affiliated to Qadiriyyah Chishtiya Ashrafiya order of Sufism and is educated from Darul Uloom Islamia

Nagpur Nagpur (pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, aːɡpuːɾ is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 13th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford's Economics report, Nag ...

. Hafiz Iqbal Haider Anjum is the current Imam of the mosque who started serving from 1 January 2014. He is educated from Jame Ashraf, Kichaucha Shareef,

Faizabad Faizabad (Hindustani pronunciation: ɛːzaːbaːd is a city situated near the southern banks of Saryu river in Ayodhya district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The area of this Faizabad region is administered by Ayodhya Municipal Corpor ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

Welfare and development

A Muslim community hall is built near mosque by the Bhilai Nagar masjid trust with the help of Muslims in Bhilai. The hall is 90 feet long, 42 feet wide and 22 feet high. A ladies’ hall has been partitioned out of it with approximately half of the total dimensions of the hall. The second floor is under construction and is estimated to be completed by the end of July 2015. Representatives from non-Muslim communities -

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

and

Arya Samaj Arya Samaj ( hi, आर्य समाज, lit=Noble Society, ) is a monotheistic Indian Hindu reform movement that promotes values and practices based on the belief in the infallible authority of the Vedas. The samaj was founded by the sanny ...

- visit every year to the mosque for wishing Muslims on the occasions of Eid conveying the spirit of inter-religious brotherhood and peace in Bhilai.

References

{{reflist Religious buildings and structures in Chhattisgarh Bhilai Mosques completed in 1967 Buildings and structures in Bhilai

History

Architecture and design

Imams

Welfare and development

See also

References