THE BIRD OF THE SOUL MAY RISE...

The architecture of the mosque uplifts the senses wherever it is encountered.

The architecture of the mosque uplifts the senses wherever it is encountered.

The masjid is a gathering place for prayer and a defining space for a religious community. But though each is as unique as the city that created it, the beauty of the architecture is universal. Fountains and courtyards, essential for ritual ablutions, elevate the senses. Minarets, from which the call to prayer issues, reach upward. Domes echo the vault of the skies, decorated with intricate motifs designed to instill awe and generate wonder.

These are some of the grandest mosques of the Middle East.

SHEIKH ZAYED MOSQUE, ABU DHABI, UAE

The third largest mosque in the world stretches over an area almost equivalent to four football fields, can hold 40,000 worshipers at once and has Guinness World Records for the largest dome, the biggest chandelier and largest handwoven carpet. There are 82 domes made of white marble, 96 internal columns encrusted with semi-precious stones, and seven chandeliers strung with Swarovski crystals and plated with 24-karat gold. The place of worship was conceived by the UAE’s first president, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who is buried in its courtyard.

SULTAN AHMED MOSQUE, ISTANBUL, TURKEY

The Blue Mosque was built in the 1600s as a symbol of the Ottoman Empire’s power, on the site of the Byzantine emperors’ palace. The lower mosque bears 200 stained glass windows, while more than 20,000 handmade blue Iznik tiles cover the walls with geometric and floral patterns. Ostrich eggs hung inside the chandeliers were intended to reduce cobwebs by repelling spiders.

SULTAN QABOOS MOSQUE MUSCAT, OMAN

Completed in 2001, this house of worship dominates the Muscat skyline, made of 300,000 tons of sandstone with room for 20,000 worshipers ... and a library containing the same number of books. Astounding mosaics cover many of the walls, while the wooden ceiling of the men’s prayer hall is carved with intricate calligraphy and arabesques. The chandelier there, covered with 600,000 Swarovski crystals and 24-karat gold plating, weighs a staggering 8.5 tons.