The Grand Mosque of Cotabato, officially the Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mosque, is situated in

Cotabato City Cotabato City, officially the City of Cotabato ( Maguindanaon: ''Kuta nu Kutawatu'', Jawi: كوتا نو كوتاواتو; Iranun: ''Bandar a Kotawato'', بندر ا كوتاواتو; fil, Lungsod ng Cotabato), is a third class independent co ...

and is the second largest

mosque 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, ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

with the capacity to accommodate 15,000 people. The biggest mosque in the Philippines is the Marawi Grand Mosque in

Marawi City Marawi, officially the Islamic City of Marawi (Maranao: ''Inged a Marawi''; fil, Islamikong Lungsod ng Marawi), is a 4th class component city and capital of the province of Lanao del Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a po ...

which consists of three floors and a basement, and a total floor area of 9,434 square meters and has a capacity to accommodate 20,000 worshipers at any given time. The Bolkiah mosque is located in Barangay Kalanganan II in

. It is also the third largest mosque in Southeast Asia after the Istiqlal Mosque of Indonesia and the Marawi Grand Mosque. https://pia.gov.ph/news/2021/12/03/marawis-grand-mosque-turned-over-to-administrators

Construction

The mosque was erected in 2011 with the building's construction reportedly costing US$48 million. Around 53% of the construction cost was partly funded by

Sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

Hassanal Bolkiah Hassanal Bolkiah ibni Omar Ali Saifuddien III ( Jawi: ; born 15 July 1946) is the 29th and current Sultan and Yang di-Pertuan of Brunei since 1967 and the Prime Minister of Brunei since independence from the United Kingdom in 1984. He is one ...

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...

, to whom the mosque has been named, while the rest was funded by the administration of President

Noynoy Aquino Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III (; February 8, 1960 – June 24, 2021), also known as Noynoy Aquino and colloquially as PNoy, was a Filipino politician who served as the 15th president of the Philippines from 2010 to 2016. The son of ...

. The construction work was done by Manila-based firm New Kanlaon Construction, Inc. with Richard Harris Jordan as project manager. The mosque is 99.12% complete by April 2011. 300 workers were hired for the construction of the mosque. It was built on a lot donated by former

Maguindanao Maguindanao (, Maguindanao language, Maguindanaon: ''Prubinsya nu Magindanaw''; Iranun language, Iranun'': Perobinsia a Magindanao''; tl, Lalawigan ng Maguindanao) was a Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines located in the ...

First District First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

Representative Didagen Dilangalen.

Architecture and design

The Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mosque was designed by local architecture firm Palafox Associates of

Felino Palafox Felino A. Palafox, Jr. is a Filipino architect, urban planner. He is the Principal Architect-Urban Planner and Founder of Palafox Associates. Aside from his duties in his architectural firm, he also serves as a member of the board of directors ...

. The mosque's domes is painted in gold and their tips are adorned by crescent moons. The building's minarets stands high and is lit at night which serves as a guide for aircraft pilots flying near the area. The building itself occupies an area of or half a hectare on a five hectare lot.

Management

The mosque is managed and operated by the Bangsamoro regional government. Prior to this the entity responsible for its management has been disputed, with claims that either the local government of Cotabato City or the defunct

Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao ( tl, Rehiyong Awtonomo ng Muslim Mindanao; ar, الحكم الذاتي الاقليمي لمسلمي مندناو ''Al-ḥukm adh-dhātī al-'iqlīmī li-muslimī Mindanāu''; abbreviated as ARMM) was ...

(ARMM) should manage the religious site. The dispute prompted the national government to temporarily took over the mosque's management except fund allocation for the building's maintenance which has been taken care of by nearby residents. In November 2019, the national government has offered to cede its role of managing the mosque to the Bangsamoro regional government which succeeded the ARMM in the first quarter of the same year as part of the

transition process Transition or transitional may refer to: Mathematics, science, and technology Biology * Transition (genetics), a point mutation that changes a purine nucleotide to another purine (A ↔ G) or a pyrimidine nucleotide to another pyrimidine (C ↔ ...

. The mosque was officially turned over to the Bangsamoro regional government on January 8, 2020.

References

{{Mosques in the Philippines Buildings and structures in Cotabato City Mosques in Mindanao Mosques completed in 2011 Brunei–Philippines relations

Construction

Architecture and design

Management

See also

References