Mosque Hassan II - Casablanca

Mosque Hassan II - Casablanca

Up to the making of this Article and video, The Casablanca big mosque is the Largest in Africa, 7th largest in the world, with a #minaret of 210 metres (689 ft) that is the second tallest in the world.

Here is a high quality video on our Youtube channel:

The minaret is 60 stories high with a laser at the top of it, its light is directed towards the Qibla which is simply in Mecca KSA. It can host up to 25,000 worshippers inside the mosque hall and another 80,000 or more on the mosque's outside ground. Half of it in built on the sea, the other half is built on the ground, it has a great view on the Atlantic ocean and also on the corniche of ain diab and the Modern side of the city. The walls are of hand-crafted marble and the roof is retractable. The mosque is located between the harbor and the El Hank lighthouse. Apart from the mosque, other structures in the area are a madrasa (Islamic school), hammams (bathhouses), a museum on Moroccan history, conference halls, and a very large library said to be the "most comprehensive in the Islamic world." Other than all that Hassan 2 mosque has 41 fountains, gardens around it where families come for picnics from all over Casablanca's neighborhoods. The constructions of Hassan 2 mosque started officially in 1986, and lasted till 1993. and most of Moroccan people contributed to its financing by making donations.. It was the last king of Morocco's idea to built a big mosque that would be one of the largests in the world. in 1980 he said "I wish Casablanca to be endowed with a large, fine building of which it can be proud until the end of time ... I want to build this mosque on the water, because God's throne is on the water. Therefore, the faithful who go there to pray, to praise the creator on firm soil, can contemplate God's sky and ocean." he building blends Islamic architecture and Moroccan elements, and reflects Moorish influences, while featuring an urban design.[12] It displays elements found in other Moroccan buildings such as the unfinished mosque in Rabat and the Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakesh. There are features from an old Roman fort converted into the tomb of King Mohammed V of Rabat. Other elements come from the Tour Hassan Mosque, the Dome of the Rock (also known as Qubbat al Sakhra 688–692 AD), the Great Mosque of Madina (705–710 AD), Kairouan Mosque in Tunisia (663 AD), the Great Mosque of Damascus (705–715 AD), the Great Mosque of Cordoba (785–786 AD), Quarawiyyin Mosque (956 and 1135 AD) in Morocco, the Great Mosque of Tlemcen (1136), and Djamaa el Kebir (1096). Its layout is known as the basilican plan, which is different from the common practice of a T shaped plan adopted in many North African countries. The qibla wall is perpendicular to the naves which is said to be an unconventional layout, given that it is customary for the rows of worshipers facing Mecca to be as wide as possible rather than extend farther back (Halod and Khan 1997, 61). The adoption of this plan has been described as "a conflict between King Hassan II the ancient aristocrat and King Hassan II the contemporary leader who must develop commerce and industry in order meet the needs of his country."

Read More

Koutoubia Mosque Marrakech

Koutoubia Mosque Marrakech

Or Kutubiyya Mosque, might also be listed under other names such as Jami' al-Kutubiyah, Kutubiya Mosque, Kutubiyyin Mosque, and Mosque of the Booksellers. It is the largest mosque in all Marrakech, located near Jemaa el fna square at the heart of the red city Marrakech.

You may watch this quick tour around the Koutoubia mosque in this video below:

The Koutoubia mosque was built in the 12th century, was completed under the reign of Yaqub al-Mansur (1184 to 1199) at the time of Almohads. The Giralda of Seville and the Hassan Tower of Rabat were both built around the same period of history and they were inspired by the Koutoubia mosque, hence the remarkable resemblance.

The kutubya minaret tower is about 77 metres which is about 253 ft in height. And it is considered as one of the important landmarks of Marrakesh, you may have seen the photo of it in postcards or tourism books.

After the COP22 organized in Marrakech few years back, koutoubia became the first mosque to be powered partially using alternative sources of energy. Thanks for the solar panels on its roof (unfortunately can't be seen from the ground) the mosque is almost self efficient in terms of energy, you could see how much power it generates and how much CO2 it prevents at anytime in the special panel next to its main entrance gate.

The mosque has curved windows, a band of ceramic inlay, pointed merlons, and decorative arches; it has a big kind of plaza next to it with gardens, and is floodlit at night. During Ramadan nights, the are the roads surrounding the koutoubia are blocked because it get way more people than the rest of the year. 

Architecture:
Exterior:
The building, of bricks and sandstone, measures 80 metres (260 ft) in width towards the east and 60 metres (200 ft) to the west. Brick work is found in the columns, arcades, middle of the qibla wall, and niche of the mihrab. Sandstone is used for the external walls built in the southern, eastern and western directions. The stone wall on the northern side of the first mosque abutted the old Almoravid fortress wall (the Ksar el-Hajjar). The surfaces are enlivened by simple designs. All window sections have horseshoe-shaped and multifoil arches, arranged within a rectangle. A diamond shape is formed in the upper part as result of overlapping arches in woven design. Faience strips are provided with bricks in turquoise colour projecting out of the wall, in smaller decorative forms. There are four entrances to the mosque, of which three open directly into the prayer hall while one opens into the courtyard. There is also an additional public entrance to the sahn from the north wall, along the central axis. The front elevation faces the street where book shops were located, hence the name "Booksellers' Mosque".
Interior:
One of the naves in the interior prayer hall of the mosque.
The main prayer hall is a hypostyle hall with more than 100 pillars which support horseshoe-shaped arches along the parallel naves. The hall is large, to the south, and abuts the courtyard at its northern end. It is also a "T"-shape prayer hall, in that the nave along the qibla wall and the perpendicular central nave leading towards the mihrab are wider than other naves. The mihrab niche is on the qibla wall in the prayer hall along the widened central nave, for which entry is from the courtyard. There is a wide transverse nave that is aligned along the qibla wall at the south end of the prayer hall. Three wide central naves are aligned perpendicular to the hall to the north. The central naves are flanked by seven smaller parallel naves. In all, there are seventeen parallel naves. The longitudinal naves, about 36 metres (118 ft) in length, are six times the width of the large transverse nave. The extensions of these naves are from the four outermost naves on either side of the prayer hall annexes and the courtyard.

Read More