Virtual Site Visit - Free Essay Sample

Introduction

The virtual site visit conducted is on The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. The Mosque is located on the Sheikh Rashid Bin Saaed St., 5th St in the city of Abu Dhabi. The Mosque was built by the Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan AL Nahyan to maintain Islam and all the teachings it promotes. As identified, this place of worship is purposed for the Muslim religion. The branch of Muslim preached at the most is Sunni. The Mosque is an independent worship entity but adheres to the teachings and principles promoted by the Islamic community.

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Outside Appearance

The Mosque offers a spectacular sight from the architectural design that was used. From the outside, the majestic 82 domes are the most eye-catching. Their arrangement offers the chance to immediately identify and distinguish it from other buildings present in the same location. The largest of these domes is located at the center. From where the main prayer hall is located. The major composition to the construction of the domes being clear white marble that was developed into onion crown shapes. It is a common architecture for mosques. Cresent shaped finials accompany the well decorated domes with gold glass mosaic that showcases the beauty and relevance that the Mosque possesses (Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque (n.d).

There is also the observation of minarets that similarly adhere to the traditional Muslim architectural designs. With this, the Mosque showcases its development from an artistic perspective with the innovative implementation of extraordinary Islamic architecture. There is also a very large space that has been constructed as a courtyard.

The courtyard has been well decorated with art galleries that outline the purpose and type of religion that is expected for practice at the Mosque. From the roof, there are incorporated egg-shaped cupolas that have been systematically organized around the main domes (Saoud, 2008). There is also the observation of the underway construction for several significant water points in the forms of ponds and lakes.

Inside Appearance

The inside of the Mosque is divided into several large rooms associated with specific Islamic activities. There is one large prayer hall that is now purposed for most prayer and teaching sessions. Two other smaller prayer rooms are also present—one being designated for frequent daily prayers and the other for female worshippers. The largest dome is decorated by large artistic chandeliers that are stated to be made up of German Swarovski crystals. In the main prayer hall, a very large carpet is said to be the largest ever in the world that was knotted by hand.

Buildings Design and Decoration

I think that the purpose of the Mosque’s high architectural design was for it to be globally identified and impress people. Considering that at any normal mosque purposed for worship, similar forms of architecture are incorporated but not of such extreme quality. This objective has been achieved as the Mosque is one of the significant tourist attractions in the country. People then observed to travel just to go and have a sight of the building. The UAE government also observed to have developed a schedule of organizing periods that people are allowed to visit and tour the Mosque.

Welcoming Visitors Online

Visitors have been offered an opportunity over the online website to visiting the Mosque. There is a clear statement of the specific periods that the Mosque is open for touring. It is from 9.00 am to 10.00 pm on any of the allowed days of the week. The statement that it is open from every Saturday to Thursday. Friday being excepted at it is the primary day of worship for Muslims.

However, from the welcome page, there is no direct statement of welcoming tourists to the Mosque for visiting. It goes direct to describing the architectural elegance that the Mosque in itself presents. However, this in itself results in the need by anyone to get to see whatever sights the Mosque offers. There is only the provision of general information about the Mosque, which then presents the chance to recognize what one can expect from visiting the Mosque. The website is only in one language, which is English.

Congregation

From the videos I watched on services at the most and the event of Ramadan, there is no distinction in terms of social class at the Mosque. The Mosque is open to anyone who desires to worship during designated times. Additionally, there is no distinction in ethnic backgrounds. However, there is recognition of a prayer hall specially purposed for women worshippers. There is alp no age requirements to be involved in the various religious services. The dress code is also common for everyone with the wearing of common Muslim attire and gowns. Others are observed to wear normal civilian attire (Roll n Rise, 2017). As such, there is no dress code requirement to be involved with any services at the Mosque.

Service of Worship

The service of worship was based on the spiritual and religious expectations of the Islam religion. The involvement of relevant religious leaders with the chanting of common prayers used for the various service sessions. The tone of the service was based on preaching peace and brotherliness amongst all congregants. There is the acceptance of the current existence of diversity and how people should accept this and strive to live peacefully.

Generally, the services were routine as per any other Muslim services—adherence to a similar schedule and procedural approach to worship (Huang & Chu, 2020). The congregation was mostly reserved with the normal chants of prayer and physical response to the various aspects of prayer. There is active participation by each member in the form of kneeling and bowing down. It involves reciting a prayer as expected at the various levels of service and prayer.

Conclusion

The main purpose of the religion would then be to allocate consideration to the power of God. Who is recognized in the religion as Allah. The consideration that Allah is the one and only God that offers his graces to His people. The religion then assures full submission to Allah’s power and promotes the observance of all values presented from the Quran. The religion allocates Allah utmost power and that all activities are controlled by Him. However, humans have also been allocated their free will to do things they desire as long as they align with the prophets’ teachings. People then actively participate in the service of worship to be able to learn of these values. From this, they are then with the capabilities of living per all expectations of Islam. The association that they develop with each other and learn on the appropriate ways of living.

References

Huang, J., & Chu, J. (2020). Tourist experience at religious sites: A case study of the Chinese visiting the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. Journal of China Tourism Research, 16(3), 447-471.

Roll n Rise, (2017). The Biggest Iftar and Most Beautiful Mosque in UAE | Sheikh Zayed Mosque. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2a-en1jvwkg&t=189s

Saoud, R. (2008). Sheikh Zayed Great Mosque in Abu Dhabi: Islamic Architecture in the 21st Century.Muslim Heritage. https://muslimheritage.com/sh-zayed-mosque-abu-dhabi-architecture-21st-c/

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque (n.d).
https://abudhabiculture.ae/en/experience/historic-landmarks/sheikh-zayed-grand-mosque.