Non Muslims allowed to visit Grand Mosque
A press note from the Sultan Qaboos Centre for Islamic Culture released yesterday said "royal approval has been issued allowing non-Muslims to visit the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque and tour its courtyards."
The press note said the visits have the following conditions:
Visiting hours from 8am to 11am - Saturday through Wednesday. No visit allowed on Thursday and Friday. (visiting hours can vary from these times, ed)
l Men should wear suitable clothes that are not short and meet the sanctity of the mosque while women should wear clothes that cover their bodies from head to toe.
l The visit to be confined to the main prayer hall for men and in the zone specified by the mosque’s administration.
l Children under 10 not allowed to the prayer halls.
l Those holding GSM should ensure that the sets are switched off before entering the prayer halls.
l Any action that violates the teachings of the Sharia is prohibited in order to preserve the sanctity of the mosque.
The Grand Mosque, an architectural marvel inaugurated early this year, is the largest mosque in Oman.
The mosque, which blends various types of Islamic architecture in its design, has an affiliate Quranic School, an institute for Islamic science and a rich library with classical books and rare manuscripts.
The mosque covers an area of 416,000 square metres and the complex is built over an area of around 40,000 square metres. The three entrances consist of three pedestrian passageways leading into the grounds of the complex, each ending in its own separate open area, off which lead a series of arcades.
The walls of the southern passageway take the form of a double screen enclosing a number of the complex’s functional facilities, including its library, which contains 20,000 reference volumes covering a range of Islamic and human sciences and culture.
A rich variety of Islamic ornamentation has been incorporated into the designs engraved in the prayer hall’s wooden doors, each of which is topped with Quranic verses in the Thuluth script (a sprawling, decorative calligraphic style). The outer walls are ornamented with engraved designs, which include depictions of plants, as well as geometric shapes and Quranic verses in the Thuluth script.
The entire floor of the complex is paved with marble slabs arranged in harmonious geometric patterns, while each marble slab paving the inner courtyard and outer paved prayer mat.
Every architectural element of the interior combines various features of traditional Islamic arts and crafts.
The dome is assembled in segments between the marble ribs and columns from large pendent elements all inlaid in fine cut tiles. The wooden boards in the ceiling are in a style derived from the traditional Omani ceiling.
All the decorative and architectural elements used in the design of the walls, ceilings and screens are based on Omani styles.
One feature of the design of the interior is the 263-square metre prayer carpet, which covers the floor of the prayer hall and took four years to make.
The main prayer hall has 35 chandeliers made of Swarovski crystal and glided metals.
The central chandelier, which hangs from the highest point of the dome, is 14 metres in height and eight metres across, has 1,122 lights and weights eight tonnes. The nine chandeliers in the women’s prayer hall are in the Ottoman style and are made of Turkish crystal.
The main walls of the main prayer hall are completely covered with off-white and dark gray marble and are decorated with geometrically-patterned gilded murals in a predominantly safavid style.
Within the northern and southern passageways are a series of halls finished on the interior with decorative designs depicting specific themes and styles. The decorations have been chosen to represent the rich range of styles and culture that flourished from Andalusia to central Asia.
The northern passageway starts with the art of the Sultanate of Oman and the Arabian Peninsula, followed by Ottoman art, then Mamluk architectural styles, Maghreb and Mesopotamian, ancient Egyptian and Byzantine decorative styles.
The chambers in the southern passageway depict motifs from Al Hijaz and Islamic Indian Mughal, followed by the Timurid art of central Asia, Iranian Safavid art and contemporary Islamic art.
All the carving of friezes, panels, corbels and screens and screens was carried out by hand. The calligraphy carving was carried out on computer and cut under water-jet machine resulting in the refined, crisp finished script that can be read from far.
The main gate and eastern secondary gate are fully clad with brown colour sandstone with the dome at the top and arcades on its sides with arches.
Times of Oman, 25th July 2001
