‘Do the different colours of the scarves mean anything?’ a rather thin, nasal Australian voice enquires. The guide gives a genial smile and removes his headscarf to better demonstrate his answer. Emboldened by this, another voice pipes up: its owner is male, dressed in traditional Arabic dress, and betrays a gruff, American accent. ‘How many times a day do you have to pray?’ it enquires. Again the guide smiles and gestures towards a honeycomb-shaped clock on the wall depicting six separate times arranged around two dates (the Gregorian and Islamic calendars). Muslims pray five times a day – the extra time indicates sunrise, he explains.
In the minutes that follow, he goes on to describe what happens during prayer time, why women pray in separate areas and how a Muslim man can marry more than one wife. All the while, eager hands shoot up from an audience sat cross-legged on the world’s largest carpet underneath the world’s biggest chandelier. This was my introduction to the Sheikh Zayed Mosque (or Grand Mosque as it is sometimes referred).
After the tour had ended and the visitors filtered away to reclaim their shoes and return their robes, I introduce myself to the guide. His name is Ahmed Al Mehairbi and he is busy fielding a couple of off-the-cuff queries from the few remaining stragglers, but these soon depart and I’m left to ask the obvious question, what was all that? ‘Every tour I start, I say that I don’t believe in stupid questions,’ he tells me. ‘Any question they have they can just shoot, whether it’s about Islam, the structure of the building or UAE traditions, like clothing, the way we live and what we do. Basically it’s the only place where they [the visitors] might have an interaction with a UAE national face to face.’
The result is that each tour culminates in a kind of meet-the-neighbours free-for-all – a cultural exchange conducted in a cacophony of international accents. Al Mehairbi is less a guide, it seems, than an ambassador. My own tour begins back in the parking lot. From the outside, the mosque is a towering sight. Raised eleven metres above the road, it sits within sight of Abu Dhabi’s two main arteries, the Maqta and Mussafah bridges, although it is not hugely accessible as yet. Ongoing cosmetic (grass, fountains) and structural (roads, parking) work is still in progress, but it remains an incredible sight; its domes and towers standing tall.
The stats are huge: the mosque holds an estimated 40,000 worshipers (30,000 in the large courtyard; 10,000 in the three indoor prayer halls). It is the third largest in the world according to the Turkish Islamic Committee, but when designs began back in 1986, I’m told that it was 40 per cent bigger. Ten years later, when building work started, it had shrunk in scale, although not in ambition. The mosque contains 1,096 pillars made up of 20,000 marble pieces, many inlaid with various semi-precious jewels. These help support the 82 gold-topped domes, in which are inscribed verses from the Quran written in the five different Arabic writing styles. Around the outside, pools cool the air, and in the evening, lights shine down on them to create a shimmering display. Everywhere is beauty.
We walk past doors marked Abu Dhabi Tourist Authority and Library (the upstairs will eventually house a large Islamic book collection) toward an as yet immovable escalator. Its dull, black metal is a shock after the intricate designs of the mosque, but we soon descend to the lush, green sanctum of the Turkish tiled wash area where Al Mehairbi demonstrates the act of cleaning the hands, mouth, nose, face and feet (three times like the Prophet Mohammad) before prayer. Climbing back up the escalator, he points to the minarets (each one 107 metres high) staking out the four corners of the courtyard. These will hold the speakers for the prayer call. A single call (currently emanating from the Sheikh Khalifa Mosque) is relayed out across all of Abu Dhabi’s 2,500-plus mosques – eventually this will relocate
here.
However, it is a gentler sound which catches my attention next. It comes from the mausoleum housing former President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan’s grave – a modest, domed building located next to the mosque. It is the only area where photography is forbidden, and Al Mehairbi tells me that a staff of 10 has been recruited to read verses from the holy book 24 hours a day (in half-hour shifts) over the grave. The sound brings an earthly reality to the often exotic beauty which surrounds the mosque. I’m then guided (stopping only to shed my shoes) to the ladies’ prayer area, where Al Mehairbi manoeuvres me to stand over one of the floral patterns on the carpet and instructs me to look up – the patterns on the ceiling and floor mirror one another exactly. A blank TV screen sits on the wall, ready to relay the image of the Imam, but there is not much time before the next prayer, so we quickly return to the main hall.
From the chandelier made of 2 million Swarovski crystals to the 5,627 square metres of carpet underneath my feet, it’s difficult to take it all in. Al Mehairbi points to the columns holding up the central dome: they are of Roman design, he tells me, made with Greek marble, crafted in China and inlaid with mother of pearl from New Zealand. The carpet is Iranian, the flowers on the walls Singaporean, even the ceiling design is Moroccan. ‘People come here and say, Ahmed, what did you use from my country?’ he laughs. Its eclectic influences are something in keeping with the open spirit of the mosque; and it is this, rather than the many jewels, which sticks in my mind. Of course the building serves an important religious purpose, and come the first prayer of Eid (the mosque is celebrating its third Ramadan), I’m told that it will be full to capacity. It is also beautiful and a remarkable testimony to the power of faith. But by opening up Sheikh Zayed Mosque for non-Muslim visitors to see for themselves; to try on traditional dress, ask questions about Islamic religion, and even take pictures to show others, it is performing an essential duty. It is promoting understanding, and that is something more valuable than all the jewels in the world.
Tours take place at 9am and 10am daily, except at the weekend. During Ramadan, tours will take place only on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday at 10am.
