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A Guide to the Masajid of Abu Dhabi, UAE

If you’ve heard of Abu Dhabi you’ve probably heard of Sheikh Zayed Mosque, the Grand Mosque of the Emirate. You may not know that in the UAE there’s actually more than 5250 mosques and musallahs and the figure is rapidly increasing. There are over 650 places of worship in Abu Dhabi (I’ve sourced that number from a listing of venues for the Eid prayers).

Most places of worship deliver the Friday sermon in Arabic. However there are a few mosques in which the sermon is delivered in Urdu, Malayalam and English for the benefit of expats and non-Arabic speaking travellers. Every mosque I personally visited catered for female worshipers.

I had the pleasure of visiting a number of mosques (masajid is a more appropriate term) and musallahs, some of which are within a 2 minute walk away from each other.

Shaikh Haamid bin Batti mosque

This mosque is located next to Ittihad/Etihad Square.
Shaikh Haamid bin Batti mosque outside

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Omeir Bin Yusuf Mosque

I’m pretty sure that this is the mosque located next to Kalyan Jewellers in Abu Dhabi. It’s the only mosque in the vicinity that I can vaguely see on the low-resolution Google Earth images.

Omeir Bin Yusuf Mosque

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Masjid Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Awwal

Decent sized masjid in the middle of the city with plenty of parking. Perhaps there are too may fluorescent lights within?.

Masjid Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Awwal outside

Masjid Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Awwal entrance

Masjid Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Awwal interior

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Jaami’/Masjid Bilal Bin Rabbah

masjid bilal bin rabbah abu dhabi

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Masjid Al Baladiyah

This is located next to the Abu Dhabi City Municipality building.

Masjid Al Baladiyah exterior

I liked its minaret.

Masjid Al Baladiyah minaret

Masjid Al Baladiyah musallah

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It’s not currently listed on Google Places.

Jaami’ / Masjid Al Kauthar

There are 2 buildings on the site but it seems like prayers are only opened within one of them.

jaami' al kauthar at night
masjid al kauthar musallah I didn’t like the fact that the taller Du cellular tower is located directly beside the minaret.

masjid al kauthar outside with fountain

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Masjid Muhammad Maani Ar Rameshee

Masjid Muhammad Maani Ar Rameshee outside

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Jaami’Ateeq Bin Raashid

Ateeq Bin Raashid outside

Ateeq Bin Raashid inside

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Masjid Ali Bin Murshid

masjid ali bin murshid outside

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Jaami’ Abdullah Hameed Al Habishee

Abdullah Hameed Al Habishee outside

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Masjid Mohammad Ahmed Ya’roof

Masjid Mohammad Ahmed Yaroof outside abu dhabi

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I tried very hard to locate Madina Zayed mosque (which according to Here Maps should be across the road from the Abu Dhabi Municipality Building) and Zayed 2nd Mosque (which should be behind Etihad Square) with no success. Even Google Maps doesn’t list many places of worship correctly – this had me walking in circles in the blazing hot sun at times.

And finally there is:

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

sheikh zayed mosque exterior

The mosque was constructed between 1996 and 2007 and the design is influenced by Mughal, Persian and Moorish architecture. It is the largest mosque in the United Arab Emirates with a capacity exceeding 40,000 people, a lenght of 420m and width of 290m.

There are 82 domes of 7 different sizes and 4 minarets.

sheikh zayed mosque travpacker zaid

sheikh zayed mosque small dome inner decor

sheikh zayed mosque white gold dome pillar

I loved some of the mosaic tile designs.
sheikh zayed mosque window arabic transcroption

There are over 1000 columns in the structure.

sheikh zayed mosque musallah area

The 24 carat gold gilded chandeliers imported from Germany incorporate millions of Swarovski crystals .

sheikh zayed mosque chandelier in gols

The musallah (prayer mat) is the world’s largest hand knotted carpet.

sheikh zayed mosque first rowReflective pools surround the mosque to enhance its beauty. Although I didn’t see any “No Swimming” signs I’m pretty sure it’s not permitted.

sheikh zayed mosque reflective poolRules listed on site:

sheikh zayed mosque rues and guidelines for visitors
To check the prayer and visiting times, visit szgmc.gov.ae

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To learn more about Abu Dhabi check out these articles:

Top Attractions of Abu Dhabi

The Malls of Abu Dhabi

The Souks of Abu Dhabi, UAE

Al Ain – The Garden City

Arabian Nights Village – Desert Adventure in Abu Dhabi

Culinary Delights of Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi Travel Guide for South Africans

About Zaid

Zaid is an intrepid traveler from South Africa that has traveled to all 7 continents. He loves to explore new destinations, experience new activities and go off the beaten path.
Read All Posts By Zaid

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