Mosques

[Laila]

Haris, that is one beautiful mosque. Jazakallah!

[Haris]

i love the temples in shanghai and thailand. i don't know if i would be committing a sin or even worse offending muslims if i was to (heaven forbid) post a picture or two of those in here.

Why bother when I can bring you beauty such as this?







Great Mosque of Xian (China)





















<---Notice the arabic engravings.




























According to engravings on the stone there it was founded in 742 AD and is the oldest & largest mosque in China. It was built by Muslims in Xian who were Arab, Afghan & Persian traders peacefully settling there and eventually mixing with the local Han people to create an Islamic community. Over time the descendents of these people have done alot for China resulting in more mosques being built to honour them. What's fascinating about the mosque is its mix of Islamic and Sino (i.e. Chinese) architecture. It is surrounded by gardens and green areas, flowers, embracing trees & ancient walls and looks very tranquil.

It is a pity that Muslims are persecuted in China.

[Haris]

I hope with these images people can realised the beauty and size of Islam. It truly is a global religion.....


Mezquita Sheikh Ibrahim (Caracas, Venezuela)
























Here is Venezuela for all you geography 'noobs':


The leader of the country is Hugo Chavez. An excellent man who has done so much for his country. I admire him even if the Americans will paint him in a bad light for keeping his country's oil reserves and for actually condemming Israel. This is one of the countries where America has been aiding terrorist organisations against democratically elected governments in Latin America for its own political gain. Hypocricy.




Anyway...
The mosque is the largest in the whole of South America.
It was completed in 1993.
The minaret is 113m high.
There are 100,000 Muslims in Venezuela.
The Muslims there leave in peace with the other peoples as they have done for many decades.





I think the best feature of the Mosque is the style of its minaret (especially the top bit).

[Haris]

Sultan Mosque (Singapore)



















The mosque was built in 1824 by Sultan Hussein Shah who gave Singapore over to the East India Company (most of the funds for the mosque came from the East India Company).
The gold dome sits on a ringed structure made up entirely of glass bottles. This is because when it was being built the rich people were contributing alot of money but the poor people wanted to as well so they collected and donated their glass bottles since that was all that they could give.
The architecture is a mix between the arab styles and indian styles.


And did you know there is a street called 'Kandahar Street' nearby? as well as some other Afghan street names too. I don't know why this is, you'll have to ask a historian about that

[emkhan]

Beautiful mosque at a beautiful historic location.
King Abdul Aziz mosque at Jibraltar spain

[Haris]

Good find emkhan.









The mosque was finished only in 1997 so it is very recent. It is facing Africa and you can see the cost of Africa in the last image. It also serves as a school, a mosque and a library to serve the 2000 Muslims of Gibraltar. It was a gift from King Fahd of Saudi Arabia.

[faye]

the beauty of the chinese mosque, wow! so much amazing handcrafting has gone into that. i've always loved chinese arts and crafts too.

[emkhan]

we do not need this backwrdsness we need SCHOOL and HOSPITAL BANISEE are crying for help.

Help your BANISEE nation

You need a Pscychatrist. Don't delay go today

[Haris]

Jame Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque (Brunei)






































Again not much info so i'll post what I can:

The mosque is located in Brunei,

The country is classed as developed and has the second highest Human Development Index (HDI) in South East Asia. About 70% of the population are Muslim.
There is free healthcare, good transport, good education etc.
If you want more info on the country look at the hyperlink above.
The mosque is located just outside of the city center.
It was built in 1992 for the silver jubilee (25th year) of the sultan.
It is the largest mosque in the country.
It is located in a huge complex with beautifully kept gardens. Inside the Masjid, it is intricately decorated.
On its opening the Sultan gave every attendee a gold-embroidered prayer rug!

There is another prominent mosque in the country, perhaps i'll post that too some time.

[faye]

nice but looks a bit untouchable, more like a palace.

[Haris]

Its open to all Muslims (main prayer hall can hold 3000+ at any one time) and Non-Muslims too when it isn't prayer time.

Perhaps you got that impression because of its lavishness but then that is the same for most of Brunei.
People have a good standard of life there.

[faye]

yes i know, that is said about brunei. no, i'm not the lavish type.

[Haris]

Al Qubrah Mosque (Oman)
























After alot of searching this is literally the only info I could find on the
mosque (taken from a newspaper article).

Muscat's impressive modern Al Qubrah Mosque is also a stop where you
can tour sights such as the world's largest hand-woven carpet, a simple
Iranian design that was lifted in sections by helicopter and stitched
together while the mosque's roof was built over it.

[faye]

some lovely traditional influences there. i love mosaic work.

[emkhan]

very nice brother... Great work