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A swarm of mosques
There are 2,300 mosques in Abu Dhabi, all connected to one central broadcast system. Thanks to Sony and Panasonic, only one imam, or Islamic leader, is needed to call followers to prayer each day, the same voice booming out from loudspeakers positioned high in the minarets, or tall spires, of each mosque. The call comes five times each day, today the first at 5.35 in the morning, the last at 7.43 in the evening, and it is obligatory to pray. Those who do not may not fare so well on judgment day.
We have been back to the Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Mosque, or Grand Mosque, in Abu Dhabi, and have made a connection. The 96 Roman pillars in the main prayer hall are constructed of marble inlaid with New Zealand Mother-of-Pearl and the carpet in the same room constructed in Mashhad, the hometown of our friend Anousheh Moodie.
The carpet is the largest hand woven one in the world, more than 7,000 square metres in area and weighing 30 tonnes. So large and heavy, it was brought here in nine sections. The main prayer hall also has three huge chandeliers, one being the largest in the world, weighing more than 9 tonnes. As we sit under it our host reassures us that we are safe; it is suspended by three cables, each capable of holding 18 tonnes.
This Mosque is extraordinarily beautiful, more beautiful than most. Usually they are plain, to minimize distraction from prayer. In this case, however, Sheikh Zayed was given dispensation to adorn it with jewels and gold, the richly patterned carpet and the chandeliers, apparently to encourage more people to the faith. And lavish it is. More than 1,000 columns, each inlaid with jewels, surround the exterior and 80 domes both perfect the acoustics and assist with ventilation. Practical and good looking, but unlike us, each adorned with gold
We had attached ourselves to a guided tour, through the courtyard (capable of holding 30,000 people, all of who can be lined up in perfect order in 3 minutes given its grid layout), down to the ablution block (with green marble fittings throughout) and on to the main prayer hall for a discussion on the architecture and building of the Mosque (13 years and still going), and an introduction to Islam with questions from the crowd. Our host tells us that, while Muslim men can have as many as four wives, he feels that one is more than sufficient, regaling us with the story of his friend with three wives. So sick of their noise he says that the friend has moved into our host’s apartment and left the wives to it. He believes in arranged marriage so will let his four sisters and mother make that choice. So far they have not; given his good looks Kaelene cannot understand why.