Top 10 Mosques of the world (Al-Masjid al-Ḥaram) - 1st

Al-Masjid al-Ḥarām

Al-Masjid al-Ḥarām is the largest mosque in the world. Located in the city of Mecca, it surrounds the Kaaba, the place which Muslims worldwide turn towards while offering daily prayers and is Islam's holiest place. The mosque is also known as the Grand Mosque. The current structure covers an area of 356,800 square metres (88.2 acres) including the outdoor and indoor praying spaces and can accommodate up to four million Muslim worshipers during the Hajj period, one of the largest annual gatherings of people in the world.
 

Location                      Makkah, Saudi Arabia

Established                638

Branch/tradition    Sunni Islam (Hanbali)

Administration          Saudi Arabian government

Leader Ship                Imam(s)

                                        Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais

                                        Saud Al-Shuraim

Capacity                     900,000 (increased to 4,000,000 during Hajj period)

Minaret                       9

Minaret height         89 meters (292 ft)

Top 10 Mosques of the world (Al-Masjid al-Nabawi)- 2nd

Al-Masjid AL-Nabawi

Al-Masjid AL-Nabawi often called the Prophet's Mosque, is a mosque situated in the city of Medina. As the final resting place of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, it is considered the second holiest site in Islam by Muslims (the first being the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca) and is one of the largest mosques in the world. The mosque is under the control of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. One of the most notable features of the site is the Green Dome over the center of the mosque, where the tomb of Muhammad is located. It is not exactly known when the green dome was constructed but manuscripts dating to the early 12th century describe the dome. It is known as the Dome of the Prophet or the Green Dome. Subsequent Islamic rulers greatly expanded and decorated it. Early Muslim leaders Abu Bakr and Umar are buried in an adjacent area in the mosque.

The site was originally Muhammad's house; he settled there after his Hijra (emigration) to Medina, later building a mosque on the grounds. He himself shared in the heavy work of construction. The original mosque was an open-air building. The basic plan of the building has been adopted in the building of other mosques throughout the world.

The mosque also served as a community center, a court, and a religious school. There was a raised platform for the people who taught the Qur'an. It was also the first place in the Arabian Peninsula provided with electrical lights on 1909.

Location                     Saudi Arabia Medina, Saudi Arabia

Established               c. 622

Branch/tradition   Sunni Islam (Hanbali)

Administration       Saudi Arabian government

Leadership               Imam(s):

                                      Ali ibn Abdurrahman al-Hudhaifi

Style                           Classical and contemporary Islamic; Ottoman; Mamluk revivalist

Capacity                   600,000 (increased to 1,000,000 during the hajj period)

Minaret(s)               10

Minaret height      105 meters (344 ft)

Top 10 Mosques of the world- 3rd (Istiqlal Mosque)

Istiqlal Mosque

Istiqlal Mosque, or Masjid Istiqlal, (Independence Mosque) in Jakarta, Indonesia is the largest mosque in Southeast Asia in terms of capacity to accommodate people and building structure. This national mosque of Indonesia was built to commemorate Indonesian independence, as nation's gratitude for Islam's blessings the independence of Indonesia. Therefore the national mosque of Indonesia was named "Istiqlal", an Arabic word for "Independence".

Location                      Jakarta, Indonesia

Established                1978

Branch/tradition     Sunni Islam

Ownership                  Indonesian government

Architect(s)               Frederich Silaban

Style                             International

Capacity                     120,000

Dome(s)                      2

Dome dia.                  45m

Minaret(s)                 1

Minaret height        90m

Materials                   Marble

Construction cost  Rp 7 billion (US$ 12 million)

Top 10 Mosques of the world- 4th ( Hassan II mosque)

Hassan II Mosque

Hassan II Mosque is a religious buildings in Casablanca, Morocco, the largest mosque in the country and the fifth largest mosque in the world after the Masjid AL-Haram (Grand Mosque) of Mecca and the Al-Masjid AL-Nabawi (Prophet's Mosque) in Medina.  

It was designed by the French architect Michel Pinseau and built by Bouygues. It stands on a promontory looking out to the Atlantic, which can be seen through a gigantic glass floor with room for 25,000 worshipers. A further 80,000 can be accommodated in the mosque's adjoining grounds for a total of 105,000 worshipers present at any given time at the Hassan II mosque. Its minaret is the world's tallest at 210 m (689 ft).

Location                            Morocco Casablanca, Morocco

Affiliation                         Islam

Region                               Greater Casablanca

Prefecture                       Casablanca-Anfa

Ecclesiastical or            Mosque  

organizational status   

Architectural type       Mosque

Completed                       1993

Capacity                           105,000 (25,000 indoors, additional 80,000 on Mosque's grounds)

Dome(s)                            1

Minaret(s)                       1

Minaret height              210 m (689 ft)

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

Top 10 Mosques of the world (Badshahi Mosque)- 6th

Badshahi Mosque or the 'King's Mosque' in Lahore, commissioned by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in 1671 and completed in 1673, is the second largest mosque in Pakistan and South Asia and the fifth largest mosque in the world.

Badshahi Mosque

 Epitomizing the beauty, passion and grandeur of the Mughal era, it is Lahore most famous landmark and a major tourist attraction. Capable of accommodating 5,000 worshipers in its main prayer hall and a further 95,000 in its courtyard and porticoes, it remained the largest mosque in the world from 1673 to 1986 (a period of 313 years), when overtaken in size by the completion of the Faisal Mosque in Islamabad. Today, it remains the second largest mosque in Pakistan and South Asia and the fifth largest mosque in the world after the Masjid AL-Haram (Grand Mosque) of Mecca, the Al-Masjid AL-Nabawi (Prophet's Mosque) in Medina, the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca and the Faisal Mosque in Islamabad.

To appreciate its large size, the four minarets of the Badshahi Mosque is 13.9 ft (4.2 m) taller than those of the Taj Mahal and the main platform of the Taj Mahal can fit inside the 278,784 sq ft (25,899.9 m2) courtyard of the Badshahi Mosque, which is the largest mosque courtyard in the world.

In 1993, the Government of Pakistan recommended the inclusion of the Badshahi Mosque as a World Heritage Site in UNESCO's World Heritage List, where it has been included in Pakistan's Tentative List for possible nomination to the World Heritage List by UNESCO.

Location                         Pakistan Lahore, Pakistan

Affiliation                      Sunni Islam

Province                        Punjab

District                           Lahore

Year consecrated      1671

Ecclesiastical or         Mosque  

organizational status    

Leadership                   Aurangzeb

Architectural type    Mosque

Architectural style   Islamic, Mughal

Completed                   1673

Capacity                       100,000

Dome(s)                        3

Minaret(s)                   8 (4 major, 4 minor)

Minaret height           176 ft 4 in (53.75 m)