Faisal Mosque

The Faisal Mosque is the national mosque of Pakistan, in the capital city of Islamabad. It sits on raised ground at the foot of the Margalla Hills, the westernmost foothills of the Himalayas, so its bright white shape stands out against the dark green slopes and can be seen from far across the city. It is named after King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, who supported and helped pay for it.

The mosque was finished in 1986 and was the largest mosque in the world until 1993. Instead of the round dome that many mosques have, it has a pointed, eight-sided roof made of concrete shells that looks like the tents of the Bedouin, desert nomads of Arabia. Four very tall, slim minarets stand at its corners. Together with its courtyards and grounds it can hold a few hundred thousand worshippers, and it is one of Pakistan's best-known sights.

History

The idea began in 1966, when King Faisal visited Pakistan and backed the government's plan to build a national mosque in the new capital. In 1969 an international design competition drew 43 entries from architects in 17 countries, and the winner was the Turkish architect Vedat Dalokay. King Faisal was killed in 1975, so his successor, King Khalid, laid the foundation stone in 1976, and the mosque and the road leading to it were named after Faisal. Pakistani engineers and workers built it, and it was completed in 1986.

How it was designed

Dalokay wanted a mosque that was modern but still clearly Islamic. The prayer hall rises in sloping, tent-like folds with no dome at all, which surprised some people at first. The four minarets, slender towers from which the call to prayer can be made, are 90 metres tall, among the tallest in South Asia, and their pencil shape comes from Turkish design. The architect said that the tips of the minarets mark the corners of an invisible giant cube, a reminder of the Kaaba, the cube-shaped shrine in Mecca.

What's inside

Inside, the tent-shaped prayer hall is lined with white marble. The famous Pakistani artist Sadequain designed mosaics and calligraphy, the art of beautiful handwriting, and a large chandelier in Turkish style hangs from the ceiling. The wall that faces Mecca is covered with blue and white tiles of Arabic writing made by the Turkish artist Mengü Ertel. The mosque complex also has a library, a lecture hall, a museum and a café. Visitors enter from the east through a courtyard surrounded by covered walkways.

On the globe

The model shows Pakistan's national mosque in Islamabad, with eight white concrete shells forming a tent-shaped prayer hall instead of a dome, surrounded by four tall pencil-shaped minarets. Look for the four slim towers standing at the corners.