The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque ,located in Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the United Arab Emirates is the largest mosque in the country. We planned to visit Abu Dhabi on our last day of trip, so decided to visit only the mosque as we have to catch the flight in Dubai at night.
The taxi drop off point is next ti the huge parking place. It takes almost 20 minutes to enter the mosque..There is a small passage from which we go down through the shopping mall(You can have your breakfast here). After the security screening, we need to register and get the tickets printed(free of cost).
What to wear
As it is a Muslim site, modest dressing is a must. Women should cover legs , hands and hair and should not wear skin fit dresses. Later will be directed to a changing room where free traditional Abayas ( in different sizes)are provided free of charge. You will be permitted without Abaya if your dress is according to the guidelines but you must have a scarf too to cover the hair.( I wore a full dress but forgot the scarfđ) Men should wear long trousers.
You can check dress code here.
The Sheikh Zayed Mosque
The entrance is beautiful with water mirrors and columns. Taxi driver said that the mosque looks more beautiful at night!The mosque is surrounded by rectangular pools tiled in different shades of blue. They reflect the mosqueâs magnificent arcades and columns and become even more spectacular by the lighting at night.
The mosque was built entirely of marble and the white colour gives the astonishing look to the mosque.There are four minarets on the four corners of the courtyard which rise about 107 m (351 ft) in height. The courtyard measures about 17,000 m2 (180,000 sq ft) and looks beautiful with floral design. It is considered to be the largest example of marble mosaic in the world. It was built using 30 million pieces of marble!
Visitors are not allowed to go into the courtyard.There are some photography points where you will be allowed to go a little bit closer.
There are 82 domes of various sizes and have onion shaped âcrownsâ and crescent shaped finials decorated with gold-glass mosaic.
There are 1096 columns around the arcade. These marble panels looks beautiful with hand carved designs.
The mosque is large enough to accommodate over 40,000 worshipers and the main prayer hall can hold over
7,000. There are two smaller prayer halls, with a capacity of 1,500 each, one of which is the women’s prayer hall.
There are free guided tours which lasts for 45 min to 1 hour. Cultural tours are available in Arabic & English and no prior booking is required. You can check here for timings.
Catching the sunset tour starts at 5 pm and heard that the mosque looks beautiful during the golden hour!
Opening hours:
Saturday to Thursday – 9 am to 10 pm
Friday – 4:30 pm to 10 pm
During Ramadan, timings changes
Saturday to Thursday – 9 am to 3 pm
Friday – CLOSED
Entrance Fee:
FREE
How to get there:
Taxis from Abu Dhabi city center are the quickest and most convenient way to get to the mosque. The fares are reasonable and it’s just a 20-minute ride.
Address & Location:
Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed St – Abu Dhabi – United Arab Emirates.
Tips:
- To avoid the mid day heat, better to visit early in the morning or late evening.
- Donât forget the sunglasses as marbles reflect sunlight.
- The mosque looks beautiful during sunset hours.
- Toilet facilities are available.