• A man prays outside the portable cabin mosque situated next to the Ice Factory in Musaffah while fellow workers relax after a long days work. Antonie Robertson / The National
    A man prays outside the portable cabin mosque situated next to the Ice Factory in Musaffah while fellow workers relax after a long days work. Antonie Robertson / The National
  • Hosam Adin Sulamah (Egyptian) is the defacto gardener of the portable cabin mosque situated next to Emirates Sack Factory in Musaffah. He takes great pride in his hobby and has plans to expand the garden around the mosque. Antonie Robertson / The National
    Hosam Adin Sulamah (Egyptian) is the defacto gardener of the portable cabin mosque situated next to Emirates Sack Factory in Musaffah. He takes great pride in his hobby and has plans to expand the garden around the mosque. Antonie Robertson / The National
  • Exterior details of the portable cabin mosque situated next to the Emirates Sack Factory in Musaffah. Antonie Robertson / The National
    Exterior details of the portable cabin mosque situated next to the Emirates Sack Factory in Musaffah. Antonie Robertson / The National
  • For migrant workers far from home and away from family this Ramadan, the mosques provide a sanctuary from financial burdens, from heat, from loneliness. Antonie Robertson / The National
    For migrant workers far from home and away from family this Ramadan, the mosques provide a sanctuary from financial burdens, from heat, from loneliness. Antonie Robertson / The National
  • Hafiz Mohammed Shafkat (a Hafiz is a person who has memorized the entire Quran and often acts as an Iman when none is available) reads a portion of the Quran by window light in the porto-cabin mosque know as Rustan Aluminium Mosque. Antonie Robertson / The National
    Hafiz Mohammed Shafkat (a Hafiz is a person who has memorized the entire Quran and often acts as an Iman when none is available) reads a portion of the Quran by window light in the porto-cabin mosque know as Rustan Aluminium Mosque. Antonie Robertson / The National
  • Interior details of the portable cabin mosque situated next to the Emirates Sack Factory in Musaffah. Antonie Robertson / The National
    Interior details of the portable cabin mosque situated next to the Emirates Sack Factory in Musaffah. Antonie Robertson / The National
  • A man rests outside the portable cabin mosque situated next to the Ice Factory in Musaffah at the end of his working day. Antonie Robertson / The National)
    A man rests outside the portable cabin mosque situated next to the Ice Factory in Musaffah at the end of his working day. Antonie Robertson / The National)
  • A Pakistani national and labourer working in Mussafah holds copies of the Quran that was brought to the portable cabin mosque situated next to the Ice Factory in Musaffah. Antonie Robertson / The National
    A Pakistani national and labourer working in Mussafah holds copies of the Quran that was brought to the portable cabin mosque situated next to the Ice Factory in Musaffah. Antonie Robertson / The National
  • Imam Mohammed Ibrahim (foreground) sits outside the “Super Fab” mosque in Musaffa with his eldest son Abu Bakr and second eldest son Salahuddin after the evening prayer. Antonie Robertson / The National
    Imam Mohammed Ibrahim (foreground) sits outside the “Super Fab” mosque in Musaffa with his eldest son Abu Bakr and second eldest son Salahuddin after the evening prayer. Antonie Robertson / The National

UAE

In pictures: The men behind Mussaffah’s makeshift mosques

James O’Hara

June 28, 2014

  • English
  • Arabic

In pictures: the no-name mosques in no-name neighbourhoods. Built piece by piece from Mussaffah’s industrial flotsam: sheets of plywood, rolls of carpeting, flower seeds.

UAEAbu Dhabi