Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque is the most well-liked place to go to in Muscat. And no marvel. Its structure, scale and ambiance are a heady combine that leaves an enduring impression on worshippers and vacationers alike. However can you possibly can go to Sultan Qaboos Mosque with youngsters?
That is at all times on the entrance of my thoughts once we go to iconic locations the place energetic or grumpy youngsters are the very last thing anybody needs 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 accomplished 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 might be seen.
So I wasn’t positive how a lot we’d get out of our go to.
Nevertheless, once we arrived our information informed us that the rule about youngsters beneath 10 solely utilized throughout prayer instances.
So, if you’re there to go to somewhat than pray, youngsters can go into the Grand Mosque’s prayer rooms and all over the place else that’s open to guests.
Taking advantage of 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 completely 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 have interaction with these locations another way to our women. Particularly once they have been toddlers and pre-schoolers.
So, how can we carry these locations to life for them?
Prior to now we’ve accomplished this with the assistance of household tour guides, participating in youngsters crafting actions alongside exhibitions, utilizing path sheets or arising with our personal checklist of issues to identify.
The Grand Mosque in Muscat doesn’t provide these items, however that doesn’t imply you need to shrink back from it if you’re visiting Oman with youngsters.
To assist I’ve put collectively a free spotter sheet you can obtain earlier than your go to in addition to some information to share along with your youngsters and different actions to maintain them entertained.
10 information for youths about Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque
My eldest daughter loves information – so do I – and there are some epic ones concerning the Grand Mosque in Muscat.
Share these 10 information concerning the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque to pique your youngsters’ curiosity earlier than your go to:
Reality 1
The Grand Mosque was a present to the individuals 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 without spending a dime.
Reality 2
The Sultan Qaboos Mosque was constructed over six years. There was a design competitors to resolve what it could appear to be and it has gained a number of worldwide design awards since opening.
Reality 3
The Grand Mosque’s 90 metre minaret is the tallest construction in Oman. No different constructing is greater.
Reality 4
The chandelier in the principle prayer room is eight metres in diameter and 14 metres excessive – that’s as massive as a two-storey home.
Reality 5
The chandelier is embellished with 600,000 Swarovski crystals and 1,122 mild bulbs. A crane is used to scrub them.
Reality 6
The central dome rises 50 metres above the boys’s prayer corridor.
Reality 7
The mihrab (the alcove that signifies the route of Mecca) within the mens prayer corridor has a secret door on both aspect. These are what the Imam (the prayer chief) makes use of to succeed in the entrance of the corridor and the minbar the place he stands to ship the sermon.
Reality 8
The Iranian carpet in the principle prayer corridor took 600 ladies 4 years to weave and weighs 21 tonnes.
Reality 9
The principle prayer room can maintain 6,500 males, whereas the ladies’s prayer room can maintain 750. Total, 20,000 individuals can come to the mosque to wish indoors and out.
Reality 10
The Grand Mosque can 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 information about Islam along with your youngsters Twinkl has some nice free and subscription assets 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 might problem your youngsters to rigorously step from one marbled flooring tile to the subsequent with out standing on the be part of.
Copy your favorite sample
There are many shady spots within the grounds of the Grand Mosque the place you possibly can 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 either side of the mosque complicated.
Discover out extra about Islam
One other place to sit down and mirror is the Islamic Centre which is on the left contained in the Mosque complicated as you stroll in.
There’s a crew of volunteers right here who will reply any questions your youngsters could have concerning the mosque or Islam.
They’re extraordinarily welcoming to individuals of all faiths and can give you water, espresso and dates.
Lookup
Lastly, trying up is at all times a should whenever you go to locations of worship and the Grand Mosque isn’t any exception.
Top-of-the-line spots to do that is within the males’s prayer corridor straight 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 counterpoint your go to:
When was Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque constructed?
This unimaginable place of worship was a present to the individuals 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 most important handmade carpet on the planet and the most important 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 ladies. 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 toes.
Guides on the mosque
We employed a information contained in the mosque to get the total story. He was filled with information, 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 supplied 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 value 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 without spending a dime.
Gown code when visiting the mosque
Women and men have to put on clothes that absolutely covers legs and arms. Ladies should additionally cowl their hair, so carry a shawl.
When you do arrive in garments that don’t meet these necessities you possibly can rent an abaya on the store on the entrance.
Put on sneakers which are 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 girl’s prayer rooms.
When is the Grand Mosque open?
You possibly can go searching between 8am and 11am Saturday to Thursday, even throughout Ramadan. Permit not 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 telephone calls within the prayer rooms. You possibly can take smartphone photos.
The place is Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque?
The right way to get there
The Grand Mosque is located in Al Ghurbah South – a 15 minute drive from Muscat Worldwide Airport. Plenty of Oman excursions will make it their first cease due to this.
When 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 see numerous 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: