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Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque (Arabic: جامع الشيخ زايد الكبير) is located in Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the United Arab Emirates and is considered to be the key for worship in the country.
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque was initiated by the late president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who wanted to establish a structure which unites the cultural diversity of Islamic world, the historical and modern values of architecture and art.[2] His final resting place is located on the grounds beside the same mosque. The mosque was constructed from 1996 to 2007.[3] It is the largest mosque in the United Arab Emirates and the eighth largest mosque in the world. The mosque site is equivalent to the size five football[clarification needed] fields approximately.
As the country's grand mosque, it is the key place of worship for Friday gathering and Eid prayers. During Eid it can be visited by more than 40,000 people.
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Center (SZGMC) offices are located in the east minarets. SZGMC manages the day to day operations, as a place of worship and Friday gathering and also a center of learning and discovery through its educational cultural activities and visitor programs.
The library, located in the north/east minaret, serves the community with classic books and publications addressing a range of Islamic subjects: sciences, civilization, calligraphy, the arts, coins and includes some rare publications dating back more than 200 years. In reflection of the diversity of the Islamic world and the United Arab Emirates, the collection comprises material in a broad range of languages including Arabic, English, French, Italian, Spanish, German and Korean.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Zayed_Mosque
Roots of history in the UAE go back more than five thousand years, when you would have found people fishing, trading camels and diving for pearls.The United Arab Emirates consists of Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm al-Quwain. They're a federation of states located in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula, next to Saudi Arabia.The UAE was established in 1971 and rapidly grew in economic status with the help of foreign investment.UAE is a member of OPEC. Oil was discovered in 1967 in Abu Dhabi, and the Emirates quickly became interested in unification for their common benefit. The U.S. soon overtook Britain as their major business partner, and Abu Dhabi became the largest oil producer in the UAE.At present, the UAE has one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. Ol, financial services, media and tourism are their major activities.There are approximately $350 billion of active construction projects, including what will soon be the world's tallest man-made object, the Burj Dubai tower.Other fun things on the way: a man-made archipelago of islands called The World, DubaiLand (bigger than Disneyland) and the world's largest shopping mall, which will also be in Dubai.Apparently somebody in Dubai knows how to throw a good party.The UAE is full of things to do if you can handle the scale they do them on. Football, Tennis, falconry; Formula F1 racing, camel racing (with robotic jockeys) and even skiing!Text by Steve Smith.
