The emirate is home to the oldest and the newest mosque in the country with the completion of the Sheikh Zayed Mosque. Drawing on Istanbul's Blue Mosque in its design, it is a beautiful and unique place of worship.
After six centuries, tiny Al Bidya Mosque has earned the title of the country’s oldest working mosque. In a few months, visitors to Fujairah will also be able to go to the newest, and one of the most spectacular, places of worship.
Named in honour of the Founding Father of the UAE, this Sheikh Zayed Mosque is second in size only to the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi.
Its design is likely to become as familiar and as loved as its namesake in the capital, drawing on Istanbul’s famous Sultan Ahmed Mosque, better known as the Blue Mosque after the tiles that cover its interior.
Ten years in the planning and funded by President Sheikh Khalifa, construction of the Dh200 million mosque was given to a team from Mabani Engineering Consulting, under the Government of Fujairah and the Ministry of Public Works.
The company was given 700 days to complete the project.
Sheikh Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi, Ruler of Fujairah, also played a key role in its design.
“When we took over the project, we proposed several designs to Sheikh Hamad,” says Hesham Amin, managing director of Mabani.
Some of those early sketches included a main dome in the middle, two main needle-like minarets, a central court and a sunken garden set against the backdrop of the mosque.
“Things got smoother under the instruction of the Ruler,” says Mr Amin.
Sheikh Hamad was familiar with the splendour of Istanbul’s Blue Mosque, built nearly 200 years after the earlier estimated date for Al Bidya Mosque.
The Ruler wanted a building that would be as impressive on the Fujairah city skyline as the Blue Mosque is for Istanbul.
Like the famous mosque on the banks of the Bosphorus, the Sheikh Zayed Mosque features six minarets and a large enclosed courtyard. But appearances can be deceptive.
“Even though the facade of the mosque looks like the one in Istanbul, we added some modern twists,” says Mr Amin.
“We did not rely heavily on handcrafted work, to cut down the budget.”
Instead, the design is a fusion of Arabic, Ottoman and modern elements, with about 600 workers involved in its construction. The imposing result is impossible to miss, towering above the other buildings in its neighbourhood and next to the Dibba roundabout.
Each of the four main minarets, designed in classic Ottoman needle style, is 100 metres tall, while the remaining two, on the corners of the courtyard, are 84m high.
The mosque has 65 domes, including a main dome. It can welcome up to 28,000 worshippers.
The interior of the Sheikh Zayed Mosque is also very different to the Turkish original, whose name is derived from thousands of blue Iznik tiles. In Fujairah, the walls of the main entrance are exquisitely decorated with verses from the Quran, intended to rejuvenate the souls of worshippers.
The carpet in the main prayer hall resembles a garden filled with many flowers.
Unlike the carpet at the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, which was hand woven in a single piece, considered the largest in the world, the carpet in Fujairah was assembled in several sections.
“You have to look closely to see the cutting,” says Mr Amin. There are lines in the carpet to help worshippers stand in line during prayers.
“Sheikh Hamad didn’t want heavy decoration which would distract the faithful while standing in prayer. Our materials come from places like Syria, Palestine and Egypt.”
All the chandeliers were imported from Egypt. In the main prayer hall, a splendid chandelier hung in the centre retains the symmetry of its shape no matter from which angle it is viewed.
For the upper levels of the interior, red and gold colours were used, chosen by Sheikh Hamad for their association with royalty.
The design also incorporated Moorish arches and the environment resembles that of the Great Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba in Spain. Many windows features stained glass.
The basement houses more than 200 stations for ablution. It also leads to the spacious female prayer hall, which can accommodate 2,500 women,
The mosque opened its doors for the first time last month, for Eid Al Adha prayers which were led by Sheikh Hamad and drew worshippers from across the UAE.
“We were given 700 days to complete the project and we almost finished it within the appointed time,” says Mr Amin.
“Now the remaining part is the garden and 3,000 parking spaces.”
Fujairah is already home to more than 290 mosques, but it is the oldest and the newest that have earned them a special place in the story of the UAE.
aalhameli@thenational.ae
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Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
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- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
F1 2020 calendar
March 15 - Australia, Melbourne; March 22 - Bahrain, Sakhir; April 5 - Vietnam, Hanoi; April 19 - China, Shanghai; May 3 - Netherlands, Zandvoort; May 20 - Spain, Barcelona; May 24 - Monaco, Monaco; June 7 - Azerbaijan, Baku; June 14 - Canada, Montreal; June 28 - France, Le Castellet; July 5 - Austria, Spielberg; July 19 - Great Britain, Silverstone; August 2 - Hungary, Budapest; August 30 - Belgium, Spa; September 6 - Italy, Monza; September 20 - Singapore, Singapore; September 27 - Russia, Sochi; October 11 - Japan, Suzuka; October 25 - United States, Austin; November 1 - Mexico City, Mexico City; November 15 - Brazil, Sao Paulo; November 29 - Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi.
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Wealth managers recommend late investors to have a balanced portfolio that typically includes traditional assets such as cash, government and corporate bonds, equities, commodities and commercial property.
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He adds that if a person is interested in owning a business or growing a property portfolio to increase their retirement income, this can be encouraged provided they keep in mind the overall risk profile of these assets.
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Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
The Byblos iftar in numbers
29 or 30 days – the number of iftar services held during the holy month
50 staff members required to prepare an iftar
200 to 350 the number of people served iftar nightly
160 litres of the traditional Ramadan drink, jalab, is served in total
500 litres of soup is served during the holy month
200 kilograms of meat is used for various dishes
350 kilograms of onion is used in dishes
5 minutes – the average time that staff have to eat
