At the start of Dubai's Jumeirah Beach Road, standing tall behind a modest iron fence is one of the UAE’s most celebrated mosques. Through the fence, a wooden pergola topped with a dome welcomes visitors down a pathway, before the sandstone mosque is revealed in full.
Elaborately decorated twin minarets frame a large central dome and two smaller ones mirror each other at the front. Jumeirah Mosque is humble at first glance, yet ornate once you step inside.
Its size is deceptive. Although it looks small when compared to grander mosques across the country, it can hold more than 1,000 worshippers at full capacity.
Now a recognisable landmark, it first opened in 1979 after four years of construction. Alongside its visual prominence and 45-year history, Jumeirah Mosque has an even greater significance to the Emirates, as it was a gift from the late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed, the former Ruler of Dubai, to his son Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai.
The structure takes inspiration from two Islamic architectural styles – Fatimid and Egyptian Mamluk. Some of the characterisations of Fatimid architecture, a movement developed in the Fatimid Caliphate in North Africa, which ended in the 12th century, include keel-shaped arches supported by columns, facade ornamentation with iconographic inscriptions, stucco decorations with intricate honeycomb-like vaulting known as muqarnas, and the extensive use of geometric patterns such as stars and interlocking polygons.
The Mamluk Sultanate, which ruled from Cairo over Egypt, the Levant and the Hijaz until the 16th century, developed a distinctive architectural language that included ornate minarets, carved stone domes, decorated entrance portals and interlaced geometric and floral patterns.
Jumeirah Mosque blends these influences seamlessly into the yellow-pink sandstone structure, where the minarets and dome are embellished with stunning deep relief carvings. These details are highlighted in sunset and in the evenings when the lights of the mosque shine on its exterior.
There are two entrances to the mosque. One on Jumeirah Beach Road solely for tourists and another on the opposite side of the building for worshippers. This entrance includes an inscription from Surah At-Tawbah, the ninth chapter of the Quran, which conveys the conditions for true repentance and forgiveness and focuses on the importance of daily prayer.
The interior includes columns arranged in a hypostyle design around the central dome, a composition used in Mamluk architecture. Beige, yellow, salmon pink and blue adorn the walls in ascending order and through Arabesque designs.
Blue is primarily used in the interior of the dome with Moroccan-influenced chandeliers hanging from the high ceilings and arched hallways. The mosaic lining of the dome is similar to traditional Islamic geometric design, however, the application of a variety of hues is a marked difference from the traditional use of bold primary colours.
Jumeirah Mosque is one of the few mosques in the UAE that offers guided tours to the public. There are 75-minute long sessions that occur six days a week at 10am where local mosque representatives cover aspects of the mosque, Islamic holidays, rituals, traditions, cuisines and customs.
