Al Zawawi Mosque, Muscat

"I love you when you bow in your mosque, kneel in your temple, pray in your church. For you and I are sons of one religion, and it is the spirit." Khalil Gibran

With so much controversy about religion today and widespread terrorism all over the world it is sad that religion is misconstrued. It is in places like Muscat, where I find people of all religions and faith co-existing in harmony and peace and I wish it were the same all over the world. So here, I present to you snapshots of a mosque, in my neighborhood which has people from all culture and backgrounds living harmoniously around this very Mosque.

View of Al Zawawi Mosque from a boulevard across the street

While digging for the history about this mosque I could find very little information about it. All I came to know about it is that it is a gift to the people of Oman by the Zawawi family. It said to be built by the Al Zawawi family in memory of one of their family members and was opened in 1985.

The Al Zawawi Mosque - rendered in pencil

The mosque is built on a large plot area, occupying a central location in my neighborhood, and stands gleaming with its golden dome and a tall minaret. The dome is in the shape of an inverted lotus and is made of pink marble covered in 22-carat gold leaf. 

Inverted Lotus-shaped golden dome

The mosque is a good example of Islamic architecture with its arched gateways and windows. However, the shape of the arch is triangular which is unlike any I have seen in Islamic architecture or in other Omani structures here. The entrance has large wooden doors decorated with brass carvings. There are two prayer halls - one for the males on the raised ground floor and underneath it lies the one for females. There is an accommodation facility for special guests besides the prayer hall building.

A rough sketch showing the mosque layout plan

Visitors say that the whole text of the Holy Quran is inscribed on brass plates found on the interior walls of the mosque. While Arabic calligraphy adorns the exteriors walls of the mosque. The parapet with its beautiful crenellations all around is typically a feature of Islamic architecture. Judging by the surrounding buildings, the minaret itself must be around 45 meters high.

View from east - The Ablution area (Sahn)

The mosque has on its both sides adjoining open courtyards (sahn) with an inverted lotus-shaped dome structure for ablution purpose. The complex is surrounded with a small formal garden with fountains and hedges of bougainvillea and evergreen casuarina trees.

Car parking around the mosque on a Friday

The courtyard view - filled with countless Muslim worshippers

On Fridays, there are countless Muslims lined up around the mosque for prayers and the entire locality is blocked during this time with vehicles parked randomly.

The Al Zawawi Mosque seems to be a favourite of the tourists as I often see them marveling at this mosque and clicking pictures from different angles even in the hot scorching afternoons of Muscat. I too have had ample opportunities to cover it from various angles from the outside only since the mosque is not open for Non-Muslims. 

View from the main road

The fountain in front of the mosque

The beautiful geometric carvings on the screen wall 

Fountain on North-East side of the Mosque

View from the Eastern side

View of the Mosque at Night

Notes:

Some Interesting facts that I came across while researching mosques:

• It is interesting to note that earlier mosques did not have minarets; the adhan (call to prayer) was simply called from any high point near mosque, Now they are the common element in mosques.
• The word 'dome' is derived from the Latin word 'domus' which means 'house'. While in Arabic, the most common term for a dome is qubba, which comes from a Syriac word meaning 'canopy' or umbrella - which is a reference from  earlier dome-like tents of Turkoman and other nomads.

For those who are interested to know about the architectural features of a Mosque, the picture below beautifully explains it all.

sources referred: 

islamic-arts.org

www.islamic-architecture.info