Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque ( ms, Masjid Omar Ali Saifuddien, Jawi: مسجد عمر علي سيف الدين) is a

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, ...

Bandar Seri Begawan Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB; Jawi: بندر سري بڬاوان; ) is the capital city of Brunei. It is officially a municipal area () with an area of and an estimated population of 100,700 as of 2007. It is part of Brunei-Muara District, the s ...

, the capital of

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, 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 surrounded by t ...

. It is one of the country's two or national mosques (the other

Jame' Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque Jame' Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque ( ms, Masjid Jame' Asr Hassanil Bolkiah), ( Jawi: جامع عصر حسن البلقية) is a mosque in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei. It is named after Hassanal Bolkiah, the 29th and curr ...

), as well as a national landmark. It is one of the largest and oldest mosques in the country and is named after

Omar Ali Saifuddien III Sultan Sir Omar Ali Saifuddien Sa'adul Khairi Waddien ( Jawi: ; 23 September 1914 – 7 September 1986) was the 28th Sultan of Brunei, reigning from 4 June 1950 until his abdication from the throne on 5 October 1967. He was also Brunei's fir ...

(1914–1986), the 28th Sultan of Brunei and the father of the current monarch Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah. The mosque serves as a symbol of the Islamic faith in Brunei.

Construction

The mosque took almost five years to build and cost more than £1 million at that time. The architectural firm involved in the construction was the Malaysia-based Booty Edwards & Partners, whereas the consulting firm was the Singapore-based Steen, Sehested and Partners. The construction work began on 4 February 1954. The construction uses 1,500 tons of concrete and 700 tons of steel. The lengths of the foundation piles are between . The mosque was inaugurated on 26 September 1958 in conjunction with the 42nd birthday celebration of Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III.

Architecture

The mosque is influenced by Mughal architecture. It was accounted that the design was first conceptualised by Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III and then developed by the commissioned architect Rudolfo Nolli, an Italian sculptor and decorative stonework contractor. The size of the mosque is about and can accommodate 3,000 worshippers. It has a maximum height of . The dome is covered with gold. The floors and columns were built of marble from Italy at a cost of S$200,000. The interior houses a chandelier of in diameter and weighing more than three tonnes; it holds 62 fluorescent tubes. The interior is also lighted by an addition of more than 480 tubes. The floors were covered with

Axminster carpet A carpet is a textile floor covering typically consisting of an upper layer of pile attached to a backing. The pile was traditionally made from wool, but since the 20th century synthetic fibers such as polypropylene, nylon, or polyester have ...

s, handmade from Belgium and Saudi Arabia. Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque (17970479693)

The mosque sits on a site and almost surrounded by a man-made lagoon. In the middle of the lagoon sits an artificial barge called in which the design is meant to resemble a ship of Sultan Bolkiah, a Sultan of Brunei who reigned in the 16th century. It was inaugurated on 19 December 1967 in conjunction with the 1,400th anniversary of Nuzul Al-Quran, a holiday in the

Islamic calendar The Hijri calendar ( ar, ٱلتَّقْوِيم ٱلْهِجْرِيّ, translit=al-taqwīm al-hijrī), also known in English as the Muslim calendar and Islamic calendar, is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 ...

which commemorates the revelation of the first verses of the Qur'an. Built at a cost of B$500,000 at that time, the barge was intended to be a permanent venue for various national Islamic religious events.

References

External links

Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque on the Ministry of Religious Affairs' website

{{Authority control 1958 establishments in Brunei Mosques completed in 1958 Mosques in Brunei Buildings and structures in Bandar Seri Begawan