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Completed in 1986, the Faisal Mosque
(also known as Shah Faisal Masjid) is
an exceptionally large and unique
mosque in Islamabad. Designed by a
Turkish architect who won an
international competition for the
honor, Faisal Mosque is shaped like a
desert Bedouin's tent and functions as the national mosque of Pakistan.
History
King Faisal bin Abdul Aziz
of Saudi Arabia both suggested (in
1966) and largely funded the Faisal
Mosque, which is named in his honor.
Ever since its conception, the mosque
has been regarded as the national
mosque of Pakistan, and as such it
symbolizes the hopes and aspirations
of the new nation.
The architect was Vedat Dalokay of
Turkey, whose design was chosen in
1969 after an international
competition. Constructed was
completed in 1986.
What to See
The Faisal Mosque is located on an
elevated area of land against a
picturesque backdrop of the
Margalla Hills. This enviable location
represents the mosque's great
importance and allows it to be seen
from miles around day and night.
The mosque's architecture is strikingly
modern and unique, lacking both the
traditional domes and arches of most
other mosques around the world.
The shape of the Faisal Mosque is an
eight-sided concrete shell inspired by a desert Beduoin's tent and the cubic
Ka'ba in Mecca, flanked by four unusual minarets inspired by Turkish
architecture. The architect later
explained his thinking to design school
students:
I tried to capture the spirit,
proportion and geometry of Kaaba in a purely abstract manner. Imagine the apex of each of the
four minaret as a scaled explosion of four highest corners
of Kaaba - thus an unseen Kaaba form is bounded by the minarets at
the four corners in a proportion of
height to baseShah Faisal Mosque akin to Kaaba.
Now, if you join the apex of each minaret to the base of the minaret diagonally opposite to it correspondingly, a four-sided pyramid shall be bound by these lines at the base side within that invisible cube. That lower level pyramid is treated as a solid body while four minarets with their apex complete the imaginary cube of Kaaba.
Entrance is from the east, where the prayer hall is fronted by a courtyard with porticoes. The International Islamic University was housed under the main courtyard, but recently relocated to a new campus. The mosque still houses a library, lecture hall, museum and cafe.
The interior of the main tent-shaped hall is covered in white marble and decorated with mosaics, calligraphy by the Pakistani artist Sadeqain, and a spectacular Turkish-style chandelier.
The prayer hall can accommodate 10,000 worshippers. (There is room for an additional 24,000 in the porticoes and 40,000 in the courtyard.)
The mausoleum of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, whose 1988 funeral at the site was the largest in the history of Pakistan, is located adjacent to the mosque.
