In brief: In visiting the glorious Grand Mosque of Kuwait City, we felt like honored guests – celebrated, entertained, and educated.
Even your fingertip will be restored to you after death, says the Quran. Our guide selected this passage to recite during our visit to the Grand Mosque of Kuwait, which by contrast occupies a huge space in central Kuwait. Our fingerprints, he reminded us, are unique, as is Allah’s attention to us.
We certainly felt welcome there, down to our fingertips. Awaiting us were a cup of karak tea, a bottle of water, and seating on lacquered wood chairs. The women in charge ensured that visiting women were supplied with a full length covering for their hair and bodies. Then, on entering, we marveled at the splendor and scale of the mosque’s great hall, capable of holding 10,000 worshippers – and all their fingers.
Kuwait City Grand Mosque from the outside, occupying 20,000 square meters (220,000 square feet) and set between the old souq market and the harbor for old ships. It was completed in the early 1980s. Driving around it to find the visitor entrance takes a long time. Despite its size, it is used for prayers only on Fridays. Our witty guide lightly touched on key tenets of Islam while explaining the utility of the mosque’s details.
Each capital in the Gulf States proudly points to its Grand Mosque, typically a recent and sumptuous structure intended mostly for special days in the Muslim calendar. In reality, it’s just one of many, many mosques of all sizes. You even find little ones at the border crossings to accommodate required prayer times or appeals for a safe journey.
Kuwait especially is a quite conservative society. Unlike Bahrain and Qatar, there is no alcohol, not even for international visitors. The abaya is worn by most women, with at least a head scarf and loose clothing. Some do wear the hijab face masks. Kuwaiti men dress in white flowing robes with tribal colors on their headcoverings.
On first entering, we were awed by the ceiling of the prayer hall. Many of the decorative elements are also structural, our guide explained.
The great dome of the Mosque weighed so much that the architects needed to add supports (such as the gold arches to the right and left) for weight distribution after the construction.
This side room, with so much gorgeous detailing, is reserved for the emirs of the country who use a separate entrance to the mosque. At the time of construction, it seems, the emir was not pleased with the room, so the builders needed to redo it completely. In the center of the room sits a copy of a large-scale Koran manuscript dating from the first century after Mohammed.
A view to the rear of the capacious prayer hall. The lines on the carpet delineate the space for each worshipper. The different styles deployed and the sourcing of materials were eclectic. Traditional Kuwaiti decoration formed just part of the whole. The tinted windows came from France and Italy.
(To enlarge any picture above, click on it. Also, for more pictures from Kuwait, CLICK HERE to view the slideshow at the end of the itinerary page.)
