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29 March 2024

2.56m tourists visit Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

Published
By Wam

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque received a total of approximately 4,685,000 visitors and worshippers during 2012, including approximately 2,562,000 visitors (tourists) and 1,167,000 worshippers.

Statics shows that during the Holy Month of Ramadan the recorded number of worshippers for the evening Taraweeh prayers was 267,000 and a further 686,000 participants in the Iftar Program, which is an annual initiative managed by the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Center throughout the month of Ramadan for the soul of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

The month of August, which coincided with the Holy Month of Ramadan, recorded the highest percentage of visitors and worshippers compared to the rest of the year, as the number of international visitors in this month was about 512,000 and the number of worshippers 497,000.

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Center (SZGMC) provides a range of services to facilitate the visitor experience, to ensure a comfortable and memorable cultural experience for both visitors and worshippers alike. The centre also offers complimentary guided tours by UAE National professional guides, who lead tours for visitors daily offering insights into the construction of the architecture, its founder, the Late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and the Islamic culture of the building.

A significant number of worshippers visit the mosque to perform prayers, particularly on Fridays, during the evening Ramadan Taraweeh prayers and other large gatherings such as Eid prayers. In addition the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque receives visitors from a vast range of visitor categories; from official State visits, leisure tourist groups, conference delegates, academics and students from educational institutes from all over the world.

During 2012 the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque received a number of important official visits including Queen Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, Queen of the Netherlands, Prince Willem Alexander, Crown Prince and his wife Princess Maxima; Atifete Jahjaga, the President of Kosovo, and Turkish President Abdullah Gul and his wife.

Other notable visits were made by political leaders including Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations; Mohammed Basendwah Yemeni Prime Minister; Mikhail Masnekovic, Prime Minister of Belarus; Akil Akilov Prime Minister of Tajikistan, and a number of other political personalities.

The SZGMC was established to be the centre of the cultural and intellectual movement focused around the Mosque under the Ministry of Presidential Affairs, and is supported and supervised by H.H. Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs. Its vision and mission was created from the cultural and national values preserved and nurtured by the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan.