The Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department has announced a total of 61 new mosques are under construction throughout Bur Dubai and Deira.
Thirty of those 61 mosques will be built in Bur Dubai, and 26 are being built in Deira. The remaining five are current mosques that are to be rebuilt.
The Dubai Statistic Centre shows that there were 2,036 mosques throughout Dubai in 2015 – a 20.3 per cent increase from 2014, where there were only 1,692 mosques.
Throughout the UAE, it was reported back in June 2014 by the General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments that there were 5,036 mosques.
The famous Jumeirah Mosque, Dubai.
The move to build more mosques is due to Dubai’s growth in population, with the project expected to cost over Dhs398 million.
Mohammad Jassim, head of the engineering department at the Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department told Gulf News: “The current construction taking place is in light of the department’s plans to cooperate with other divisions to build new mosques geographically depending on population density in different areas.”
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Talking about the style of the new mosques, Jassim said: “Some mosques will be built in the local style and Fatimid style, while others will follow the Ottoman style, or a modern architectural style.”
The mosques, once completed, will accommodate around 52,600 people.
The largest mosque in Dubai resides in the Al Safa area, and is able to accommodate up to 2,000 worshippers.
The Al Farooq Omar Bin Al Khattab Mosque in Al Safa.
The mosque and centre complex spans a total space of 8,700 square metres, with the mosque itself taking up 4,200 square metres of that space.
The UAE government subsidises almost 95 per cent of Dubai’s mosques, with around 5 per cent of them being entirely private.
All mosques in Dubai are managed by the government of Dubai, and all Imams are appointed by the government.
Images: Facebook/AlFarooqCentre, Facebook/Ponyost
