Top 10 Mosques of the world- 5th (Faisal Mosque)

Faisal Mosque in Islamabad is the largest mosque in Pakistan and South Asia and one of the largest mosques in the world. It was the largest mosque in the world from 1986 until 1993, when it was overtaken in size by the completion of the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, Morocco. 

Faisal Mosque

Subsequent expansions of the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) of Mecca and the Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Prophet's Mosque) in Medina, Saudi Arabia during the 1990s relegated Faisal Mosque to fourth place in terms of size.  

Faisal Mosque is conceived as the National Mosque of Pakistan. It has a covered area of 5,000 m2 (54,000 sq ft). It can accommodate 10,000 worshipers in its main prayer hall,24,000 in its porticoes, 40,000 in its courtyard,and another 200,000 in its adjoining grounds. Although its covered main prayer hall is smaller than that of the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca (the world's third largest mosque), Faisal Mosque has the third largest capacity of accommodating worshipers in its adjoining grounds after the Masjid AL-Haram (Grand Mosque) of Mecca, the Al-Masjid AL-Nabawi (Prophet's Mosque) in Medina. Each of the Mosque's four minarets are 80 m (260 ft) high (the tallest minarets in South Asia) and measure 10 x 10 m in circumference.

The Faisal Mosque is named after the late King Faisal bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia, who supported and financed the project.

Brief information of this mosque is as follows:

Location                        Islamabad, Pakistan

Established                  1986

Branch/tradition       Sunni Islam

                                         (Open to all , but Imamate reserved for either Shafi or Hanbali)

Architect(s)                Vedat Dalokay

Style                               Contemporary Islamic

Capacity                       74,000 within the main areas, approx. 200,000 in adjoining grounds

Covered area              5,000 m2 (54,000 sq ft)

Minaret(s)                    4

Minaret height            90 meters (295 ft)

Construction cost      120 million USD