Wednesday, July 17, 2013
MARYLAND, USA
MARYLAND, USA: Young boys scurry
to the mosque to mark the end of Ramadan at the Muslim Community Center
of Silver Spring, Maryland.
BAGHDAD, IRAQ
BAGHDAD, IRAQ: The pedestal upon
which the famed statue of Saddam Hussein was toppled on April 9, 2003
is seen at sunrise in Firdos Square in front of a mosque in Baghdad,
Iraq.
GROZNY, RUSSIA
GROZNY, RUSSIA: Men walk in front of the mosque after prayer in Grozny, Chechen Republic, Russia.
HEBRON, WEST BANK
HEBRON, WEST BANK: The compound
known as the Tomb of the Patriarchs to Jews or the Ibrahimi Mosque
to Muslims in the West Bank city of Hebron. The Palestinian Authority
is planning on nominating the site and the old city of Hebron to be
recognized by UNESCO as a world heritage site. The Israeli government
has designated the compound as a national heritage site.
GHARDAIA, ALGERIA
GHARDAIA, ALGERIA: The imam and
keeper of the Ghardaia mosque and one of the people in charge of
managing the protection and restoration of the M'zab Valley.
URGUP, TURKEY
URGUP, TURKEY: Christians and
Muslims lived together peaceably in the caves in Zelve until the 20th
century. Here, an early mosque at the Zelve Open Air Museum in Zelve,
near Urgup.
AGRA, INDIA
AGRA, INDIA: The Taj Mahal Mosque in red sandstone with a white marble dome pictured at dawn in Uttar Pradesh, India.
ALEPPO, SYRIA
ALEPPO, SYRIA: The Great Mosque
of Aleppo (Jami Halab al-Kabir) or the Ummayad Mosque of Aleppo, the
largest and oldest mosque in the city of Aleppo in northern Syria. The
Citadel of Aleppo is a large medieval fortified palace which is
considered to be one of the oldest and largest castles in the world.
Usage of the Citadel hill dates back at least to the middle of the 3rd
millennium BC. Subsequently occupied by many civilizations including the
Greeks, Byzantines, Ayyubids and Mukluks, the majority of the
construction as it stands today is thought to originate from the Ayyubid
period. Conservation work has taken place by the Aga Khan Trust for
Culture (AKTC) in collaboration with the Syrian Directorate General of
Antiquities in the early 21st century. Aleppo is the largest city in
Syria and the Levant. Aleppo is also one of the oldest continuously
inhabited cities in the world; it has been inhabited since perhaps as
early as the 6th millennium BC, which makes it the oldest known human
settlement in the world. Aleppo was a strategic trading point midway
between the Mediterranean Sea and Mesopotamia. For centuries, was the
third largest city in the Ottoman Empire, after Constantinople and
Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppo is
distinct in identity, architecture and culture, all shaped by a markedly
different history and geography. The city's significance in history has
been its location at the end of the Silk Road, which passed through
central Asia
MIDRAND, SOUTH AFRICA
MIDRAND, SOUTH AFRICA: The
Nizamiye Complex and Turkish Mosque, which opened in October 2012 in
Midrand, South Africa,is the largest mosque in the southern hemisphere.
YAZD, CENTRAL IRAN
YAZD, IRAN: The tiled turquoise dome of a mosque in the old town in Yazd, central Iran. These towers function as a cooling system in the hot weather for these buildings located in the desert regions of Iran.
TACNA, PERU
TACNA, PERU: A mosque in Tacna, Peru. The city is home to a large number of Pakistani families.
ARAFAT, SAUDI ARABIA
ARAFAT,
SAUDI ARABIA: Muslim pilgrims attend noon prayers at the Nimira mosque
in Arafat, outside the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Muslim
pilgrims journey to Arafat, a revered place in Islam, for the
culmination of the Hajj rituals. Mount Arafat, about 70 metres high, is a
granite hill to the east of the Holy City of Makkah. The pious believe
that it was on Mount Arafat that Adam and Eve, separated for 200 years,
recognized each other and Eve.
LAHORE, PAKISTAN
LAHORE, PAKISTAN: Pigeons fly
over the Wazir Khan Mosque in the walled city of Old Lahore in
Pakistan. The great mosque was built by built by Hakim Shaikh
Ilm-ud-din Ansari, court physician to the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan who
later rose to the status of governor. Construction began around
ISTANBUL, TURKEY
ISTANBUL, TURKEY: The iconic
Sultanahmet Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey is a masterpiece of Ottoman and
Byzantine architectural traditions.
MECCA, SAUDI ARABIA
MECCA, SAUDI ARABIA: Pilgrims
pray in the Grand Mosque, known to the faithful as Masjid al-Ḥaram,
during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in the holy city of Mecca. At
the centre of the Grand Mosque is the Kaaba, a cuboid-shaped building
housing in its eastern corner the sacred Black Stone, which makes it the
holiest site in Islam. The Quran states that Abraham and his son
Ishmael raised the foundations of this holy house.
LONDON, ENGLAND
LONDON, ENGLAND: The London Muslim Centre is one of the largest mosques in the United Kingdom.
TASHKENT, UZBEKISTAN
TASHKENT, UZBEKISTAN: An Uzbek
woman outside the Juma Mosque in Tashkent in the central Asian country
of Uzbekistan. The mosque was built in the 9th century after the Arab
invasion of the ancient Zoroastrian Tashkent region.
MUSCAT, OMAN
MUSCAT, OMAN: The awe-inspiring
Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat, Oman, is built from 300,000
tonnes of Indian sandstone. It took six years and four months to build
and was finished in 2001.
It can accommodate a maximum of 20,000 worshippers including a separate prayer hall for women. The Grand Mosque has the second-largest prayer carpet and chandelier in the world.
It can accommodate a maximum of 20,000 worshippers including a separate prayer hall for women. The Grand Mosque has the second-largest prayer carpet and chandelier in the world.
LEEDS, UNITED KINGDOM
LEEDS, UNITED KINGDOM: The Leeds Grand Central Mosque looms above the city's Burley area
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND: The
Ponsonby Mosque on in Ponsonby, Auckland, was built in the 1970s. Islam
first came to New Zealand in the 1870s with the arrival of Muslim
Chinese gold prospectors. Later waves of Muslim immigrants came from
India, Eastern Europe and Fiji.
MOGADISHU, SOMALIA
MOGADISHU, SOMALIA: A handout
photograph released by the African Union-United Nations Information
Support Team, shows a general view of a mosque opposite the parliament
building in the Somali capital Mogadishu.
KAZAN, RUSSIA
KAZAN, RUSSIA: The Qolsharif
Mosque in the Kazan Kremlin in Kazan, Russia. At the time of its
original construction in the 16th century, it was believed to be the
oldest mosque in Europe outside Istanbul. Named after Qolsharif, a
religious scholar and Imam of the Khanate of Kazan, who died in 1552
defending the mosque against Russian forces of Ivan the Terrible. It was
rebuilt and inaugurated in 2005. Kazan is in Tatarstan, a federal
subject of
KHARTOUM, SUDAN
KHARTOUM, SUDAN: A general view
of the city center and the As Sayed Ali Mosque in Khartoum, Sudan.
Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, lies at the point where both the Blue
and the White Nile converge.
FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA, UNITED
STATES OF AMERICA: The Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church,Virginia was one of the first mosques to be established in the region.
DEARBORN, MICHIGAN, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
DEARBORN, MICHIGAN, UNITED STATES
OF AMERICA: An interfaith group rallies at the Islamic Center of
America in Dearborn, Michigan. It is the largest mosque in North America
and the oldest Shia mosque in the United States.
PATTANI, THAILAND
PATTANI, THAILAND: Thai Muslim
women pray during the special Eid ul-Fitr morning prayer at the Central
Mosque of Pattani in the southern province of Pattani, Thailand. The
beautiful mosque is the largest in Thailand. Pattani is one of the four
provinces of Thailand where the majority of the population (88%) are
Malay Muslim.
BIRMINGHAM, UNITED KINGDOM
BIRMINGHAM, UNITED KINGDOM: The minaret of the Central Mosque blends into the skyline of Birmingham City as Muslims arrive for Friday prayers.
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