Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque is the most well-liked place to go to in Muscat. And no surprise. Its structure, scale and ambiance are a heady combine that leaves a long-lasting impression on worshippers and vacationers alike. However can you may go to Sultan Qaboos Mosque with youngsters?
That is all the time on the entrance of my thoughts once we go to iconic locations the place vigorous or grumpy youngsters are the very last thing anybody desires to see. Or so us guilt-ridden mother and father inform ourselves.
We visited Oman’s largest mosque on the finish of our seven day highway journey across the north west of the nation.
Right here’s our expertise there with a ten and eight-year-old together with some suggestions for going your self.
Can youngsters go to the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque?
Earlier than we arrived on the Grand Mosque I’d achieved a little bit of analysis about visiting with youngsters.
From what I’d learn elsewhere youngsters may go to. Nevertheless, youngsters beneath the age of 10 weren’t allowed within the prayer halls the place a number of the most spectacular options could be seen.
So I wasn’t positive how a lot we’d get out of our go to.
Nevertheless, once we arrived our information advised us that the rule about youngsters beneath 10 solely utilized throughout prayer instances.
So, if you’re there to go to fairly than pray, youngsters can go into the Grand Mosque’s prayer rooms and in every single place else that’s open to guests.
Benefiting from your go to the Grand Mosque in Muscat
We’re a household of agnostics – we very a lot sit on the fence about God – however in relation to experiencing locations of faith and the artistry round totally different beliefs and cultures we’re followers.
Throughout our travels we’ve wandered across the gothic grandeur of Catedral de Barcelona in Catalonia, marvelled at Luke Jerram’s Gaia at Exeter Cathedral and admired the work of Di Vinci, Botticelli and Raffaello within the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy.
All are unimaginable spectacles that we wholeheartedly suggest.
Nevertheless we all know that as adults we interact with these locations otherwise to our women. Particularly after they have been toddlers and pre-schoolers.
So, how will we convey these locations to life for them?
Prior to now we’ve achieved this with the assistance of household tour guides, collaborating in youngsters crafting actions alongside exhibitions, utilizing path sheets or developing with our personal checklist of issues to identify.
The Grand Mosque in Muscat doesn’t provide this stuff, however that doesn’t imply it’s best to draw back from it if you’re visiting Oman with youngsters.
To assist I’ve put collectively a free spotter sheet you could obtain earlier than your go to in addition to some details to share along with your youngsters and different actions to maintain them entertained.
10 details for youths about Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque
My eldest daughter loves details – so do I – and there are some epic ones in regards to the Grand Mosque in Muscat.
Share these 10 details in regards to the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque to pique your youngsters’ curiosity earlier than your go to:
Truth 1
The Grand Mosque was a present to the folks of Oman from the late Sultan Qaboos bin Stated. All Muslims can pray right here and anybody of any faith or none can go to free of charge.
Truth 2
The Sultan Qaboos Mosque was constructed over six years. There was a design competitors to resolve what it will appear like and it has received a number of worldwide design awards since opening.
Truth 3
The Grand Mosque’s 90 metre minaret is the tallest construction in Oman. No different constructing is larger.
Truth 4
The chandelier in the primary prayer room is eight metres in diameter and 14 metres excessive – that’s as huge as a two-storey home.
Truth 5
The chandelier is embellished with 600,000 Swarovski crystals and 1,122 mild bulbs. A crane is used to scrub them.
Truth 6
The central dome rises 50 metres above the lads’s prayer corridor.
Truth 7
The mihrab (the alcove that signifies the path of Mecca) within the mens prayer corridor has a secret door on both facet. These are what the Imam (the prayer chief) makes use of to achieve the entrance of the corridor and the minbar the place he stands to ship the sermon.
Truth 8
The Iranian carpet in the primary prayer corridor took 600 ladies 4 years to weave and weighs 21 tonnes.
Truth 9
The principle prayer room can maintain 6,500 males, whereas the ladies’s prayer room can maintain 750. General, 20,000 folks can come to the mosque to wish indoors and out.
Truth 10
The Grand Mosque can also be a spot for studying. It has a library with greater than 23,000 books about Islamic tradition, pure science, artwork and philosophy.
If you wish to share extra details about Islam along with your youngsters Twinkl has some nice free and subscription sources about Islam.
Actions to do along with your youngsters on the Grand Mosque in Muscat
Right here’s some actions to do along with your youngsters as you discover to maintain them engaged and entertained:
Depend the minarets
Spoiler alert: there are 5. The mosque’s towers characterize the 5 pillars of Islam:
- religion in a single God
- prayer
- almsgiving
- fasting throughout Ramadan
- and pilgrimage.
Spot script from the Qur’an
All through the Grand Mosque you’ll see partitions, flooring doorways and ceilings embellished with geometric and floral designs. Look intently and also you’ll additionally see Arabic script adorning the constructing.
These are verses from the Qur’an.
Don’t step on a crack
You possibly can problem your youngsters to rigorously step from one marbled ground tile to the subsequent with out standing on the be a part of.
Copy your favorite sample
There are many shady spots within the grounds of the Grand Mosque the place you may sit with some pencils and paper to recreate one of many patterns you’ve noticed on the carpet, within the mosaics or on the exteriors of the buildings.
A spot to do that with patterns in entrance of you is beneath the coated stroll methods down both sides of the mosque advanced.
Discover out extra about Islam
One other place to sit and replicate is the Islamic Centre which is on the left contained in the Mosque advanced as you stroll in.
There’s a staff of volunteers right here who will reply any questions your youngsters might have in regards to the mosque or Islam.
They’re extraordinarily welcoming to folks of all faiths and can give you water, espresso and dates.
Search for
Lastly, wanting up is all the time a should whenever you go to locations of worship and the Grand Mosque isn’t any exception.
Among the finest spots to do that is within the males’s prayer corridor instantly beneath the chandelier.
FREE Grand Mosque spotter sheet
Right here’s a spotter sheet that I’ve put collectively together with a number of the options, supplies and factors of curiosity you’ll see.
Obtain it earlier than you go to the Grand Mosque.
Extra helpful issues to find out about Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque
Right here’s some extra details about Muscat’s Grand Mosque to complement your go to:
When was Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque constructed?
This unimaginable place of worship was a present to the folks of Oman by the final Sultan whose identify it bears.
It’s a murals that took six years to construct beginning in 1996. When it was opened by the Sultan in 2001 it boasted the biggest handmade carpet on the earth and the largest chandelier.
The UAE and Qatar have now snatched each titles, however this on no account diminishes the awe-inspiring spectacle of this mosque. It needs to be seen to be believed.
The design is overwhelmingly Arabic however there are influences and supplies from world wide.
Alongside Omani granite and marble, 30,000 tonnes of Indian sandstone have been used within the mosque’s building. The chandelier was made in Italy as have been the stained glass home windows alongside the partitions of the mens prayer room.
The mosque additionally has a extra modest prayer room for girls. It’s smaller as a result of historically ladies pray at residence. It’s primarily used on Fridays, which is the Islamic holy day.
There are female and male wash rooms that every worshiper visits earlier than they go to wish. They use chilly water to clean their faces, together with their mouths and noses, their arms, arms and ft.
Guides on the mosque
We employed a information contained in the mosque to get the complete story. He was stuffed with details, able to reply questions and enthusiastic to take our image in all the favored vantage factors.
We visited the Islamic Centre after our tour the place we have been provided water, espresso and dates whereas studying about Islam. They’ve a variety of free books exploring the faith that you’re inspired to remove.
How a lot does it price to go to the Grand Mosque?
There’s no cost to enter and also you don’t have to pay for a information. If they’ve time, the volunteers within the Islamic Centre can take you on a tour free of charge.
Costume code when visiting the mosque
Women and men have to put on clothes that totally covers legs and arms. Girls should additionally cowl their hair, so convey a shawl.
Should you do arrive in garments that don’t meet these necessities you may rent an abaya on the store on the entrance.
Put on sneakers which might be simple to take away. You’ll have to take them off to enter the prayer halls. There are shoe racks across the entrances to each the mens and lady’s prayer rooms.
When is the Grand Mosque open?
You may go searching between 8am and 11am Saturday to Thursday, even throughout Ramadan. Enable no less than an hour and a half for you go to.
Consuming, consuming and smartphones
It’s not permitted to eat, drink or use your smartphone for cellphone calls within the prayer rooms. You may take smartphone photos.
The place is Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque?
Methods to get there
The Grand Mosque is located in Al Ghurbah South – a 15 minute drive from Muscat Worldwide Airport. A whole lot of Oman excursions will make it their first cease due to this.
Should you take a taxi from the airport or your lodging agree the fare earlier than you set off. Taxis aren’t low-cost however you can find plenty of them about.
If you wish to use public transport bus route 12 stops on the N1 freeway inside a ten minute stroll of the mosque. Discover connections on the Moovit App.
Extra studying about visiting Oman with youngsters
Obtained a little bit of time to discover Oman with youngsters? Right here’s some extra standard locations we’ve been:
