The King Faisal Mosque ( ar, مَسْجِد ٱلْمَلِك فَيْصَل, Masjid Al-Malik Fayṣal) is a mosque in

Sharjah Sharjah (; ar, ٱلشَّارقَة ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi, forming part of the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area. Sharjah is the capital o ...

, the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

. It is named after the former ruler of Saudi Arabia King Faisal of Saudi Arabia.

History

Construction of the mosque started in 1984, and it was completed and opened to the public on

Friday Friday is the day of the week between Thursday and Saturday. In countries that adopt the traditional "Sunday-first" convention, it is the sixth day of the week. In countries adopting the ISO-defined "Monday-first" convention, it is the fifth d ...

the 23rd of January, 1987. Named after King

Faisal of Saudi Arabia Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ( ar, فيصل بن عبدالعزيز آل سعود ''Fayṣal ibn ʿAbd al ʿAzīz Āl Suʿūd'', Najdi Arabic pronunciation: ; 14 April 1906 – 25 March 1975) was a Saudi Arabian statesman and diplomat who was ...

, it had been the largest in the

Emirate of Sharjah The Emirate of Sharjah (; ar, إِمَارَة ٱلشَّارِقَة ') is one of the emirates of the United Arab Emirates, which covers and has a population of over 1,400,000 (2015). It comprises the capital city of Sharjah, after which it ...

and country. Currently, the

Sharjah Mosque The Sharjah Mosque ( ar, مَسْجِد ٱلشَّارقة), is the largest mosque in the Emirate of Sharjah, the United Arab Emirates. The construction of the mosque was commissioned by the Government of Sharjah. The mosque was officially open ...

in the area of Tay is the largest mosque in the Emirate, and the

Sheikh Zayed Mosque The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque ( ar, جَامِع ٱلشَّيْخ زَايِد ٱلْكَبِيْر, Jāmiʿ Ash-Shaykh Zāyid Al-Kabīr) is located in Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The largest mosque in the countr ...

is the largest in the nation.

Geography

The mosque is located on King Faisal Road and Al Arouba Street in the central part of Sharjah, near the headquarters of

Dubai Islamic Bank The Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) is an Islamic bank in Dubai, established in 1975 by Haj Saeed Bin Ahmed Al Lootah. It is the first Islamic bank in the world to have incorporated the principles of Islam in all its practices and is the largest Islami ...

in Sharjah, Al Ittihad (Union) Park, the Central Bus Station and Al Jubail Souq.

Structure

The mosque has 2 minarets which measure , an area of , and a capacity of 16,670 worshippers, of which 12,000 can be seated. The mosque has functions even apart from hosting male and female worshippers. The second floor is occupied by Sharjah's Department of Islamic Affairs and Awqaf, including a general library and offices, adding the library having approximately 7,000 books on Islamic thought and

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

, modern books on Islamic

Sharia Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...

and ''a

hadith Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval ...

'', in addition to cultural, literary and scientific works. The ground and first floors are for men to pray in, and the basement for women. Near the women's prayer hall is a big place where people may donate clothes for the needy, under the supervision of Sharjah International Charitable Organisation, which also has offices in the building.

Notes

References

External links