Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Presidential Court, on Friday opened a museum within Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque to allow visitors to "explore the cultural richness of Islamic civilisation".
The Light and Peace Museum houses a treasure trove of exhibits spanning centuries, including the first Islamic gold coin, part of the Kiswa (covering) of the Holy Kaaba, gold-illuminated pages of the Blue Qur'an, as well as the personal collection of the UAE Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. The museum blends tradition and modernity in its five sections boasting interactive experiences harnessing advanced technologies and multimedia.
Sheikh Mansour toured the culture spot along with a number of senior officials. He visited its Dome of Peace and was briefed on how the venue seeks to bolster knowledge about Islamic society, its development of arts and sciences, and its efforts to champion tolerance and coexistence.
"This museum forms a window that allows the world to explore the cultural richness of Islamic civilisation and represents a qualitative addition to the UAE’s efforts in highlighting the shared human values that unite us as diverse peoples," said Sheikh Mansour, in comments shared by state news agency Wam. "We are committed to supporting initiatives that contribute to building a future that promotes values of understanding and peace."
The five zones of the museum are named Values of Tolerance – The Abundance of Light; Sanctity and Worship – The Three Mosques; Beauty and Perfection – The Spirit of Creativity; Tolerance and Openness – The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque; and Unity and Coexistence, and there is also a space dedicated to family and children’s experiences.
The museum's cultural content is shared in seven languages – Arabic, English, Chinese, Spanish, French, Russian, and Hindi – to spread its message to as broad an audience as possible. The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre – which operates the landmark place of worship – is to announce the opening of the museum to visitors soon.
Cultural attraction
Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque welcomed more than 4.3 million visits in the first half of the year, including its largest number of daily worshippers during Ramadan, it was announced in July. The mosque has cemented its status as a leading global religious and cultural centre in recent years – with the latest six-monthly total well up on the 3.3 million visits recorded from January to the end of June last year and the 1.5 million registered in 2022.
The mosque continues to draw visitors from all parts of the world. Official figures show 81 per cent of visits made were by people from outside the Emirates.
Asia led the way with 52 per cent of all visits, followed by Europe at 34 per cent, North America at 7 per cent, Africa and South America at 3 per cent each, and Australia at 1 per cent. India had the largest number of visits at 22 per cent, followed by China at 11 per cent, Russia at 8 per cent and Germany and the USA at 4 per cent.
Completed in 2007, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is the largest in the UAE, spreading across 22,000 square metres. It can host more than 40,000 worshippers at once.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
- Flexible work arrangements
- Pension support
- Mental well-being assistance
- Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
- Financial well-being incentives
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Salah in numbers
€39 million: Liverpool agreed a fee, including add-ons, in the region of €39m (nearly Dh176m) to sign Salah from Roma last year. The exchange rate at the time meant that cost the Reds £34.3m - a bargain given his performances since.
13: The 25-year-old player was not a complete stranger to the Premier League when he arrived at Liverpool this summer. However, during his previous stint at Chelsea, he made just 13 Premier League appearances, seven of which were off the bench, and scored only twice.
57: It was in the 57th minute of his Liverpool bow when Salah opened his account for the Reds in the 3-3 draw with Watford back in August. The Egyptian prodded the ball over the line from close range after latching onto Roberto Firmino's attempted lob.
7: Salah's best scoring streak of the season occurred between an FA Cup tie against West Brom on January 27 and a Premier League win over Newcastle on March 3. He scored for seven games running in all competitions and struck twice against Tottenham.
3: This season Salah became the first player in Premier League history to win the player of the month award three times during a term. He was voted as the division's best player in November, February and March.
40: Salah joined Roger Hunt and Ian Rush as the only players in Liverpool's history to have scored 40 times in a single season when he headed home against Bournemouth at Anfield earlier this month.
30: The goal against Bournemouth ensured the Egyptian achieved another milestone in becoming the first African player to score 30 times across one Premier League campaign.
8: As well as his fine form in England, Salah has also scored eight times in the tournament phase of this season's Champions League. Only Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, with 15 to his credit, has found the net more often in the group stages and knockout rounds of Europe's premier club competition.
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Saturday's schedule at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
GP3 race, 12:30pm
Formula 1 final practice, 2pm
Formula 1 qualifying, 5pm
Formula 2 race, 6:40pm
Performance: Sam Smith
