R. Doug Wicker — Author

We’ll continue today and in this week’s Fun Photo Friday with a photographic tour of Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. After that it will be time to move on to our next Abu Dhabi sight, which will take up another three weeks’ worth of articles. I’ve mentioned a few times now the ginormous hand-knotted prayer rug that fills the main prayer hall here. And in photos of it I may have left you with the impression that it’s predominently green. We’ll that’s not the case throughtout. In the image above you’ll see a concentric pattern of yellow, burgundy, and red with a light-colored center. That’s not the only colors in evidence here, however, Note the intense orange behind the plaque describing this incredible artisan rug:

You’ve so far seen the carpet, the chandeliers, the floral reliefs made of semi-precious stone, the marble walls and colonnades, and hand-painted tiles. What you’ve not yet seen is an example of the decorative glass:

You’ve also been treated to views of the many domes and the four minarets:

Now these next two images will probably require a bit of explanation for the non-Islamic among us. I certainly did not understand the significance of this intriguing bit of digital display when I photographed it. This image below appears to show a calendar clock with two dates and six separate times on it, and that’s exactly what it is. But, more specifically, it is an azan clock that calculates salah times, or the six prayer times for that particular day.

The date in the upper center portion of the clock represents the date as commonly described throughout the world, and the date below that uses the Hijri calendar (Islamic Calendar). The prayer times are calculated astronomically. They are (in order) Fajr (dawn), Shoroq (sunrise), Dhuhr (time the sun passes the zenith), Asr (when a shadow is the length of the object casting it—some sects hold to twice the length), Magrib (sunset), and Isha (start of night). As you can see, these times will change daily, and every location will reflect different times as well, so there are complex calculations involved.

We shall finish up with some final favorite images of Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque on Fun Photo Friday before moving on.

For additional information on the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque see:

● Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
● Mosques
● Domes
● Minarets
● Qibla
● Salah times
● Hijri calendar
● Prayer halls
● Mihrabs
● Imams
● Islamic architecture
● Abu Dhabi
● United Arab Emerates
● Arabian Peninsula
● Middle East

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