Algeria inaugurates largest mosque of Africa with prayer capacity of 120,000 worshippers. Known locally as the Djamaa El-Djazair, the modernist structure extends across 27.75 hectares
Algeria inaugurates largest mosque of Africa with prayer capacity of 120,000 worshippers
The mosque of Abdullah ibn Abbas Radi Allahu anhu.
Algeria inaugurated a gigantic mosque on its Mediterranean coastline Sunday after years of political upheaval transformed the project from a symbol of state-sponsored strength and religiosity to one of delays and cost overruns.
Known locally as the Djamaa El-Djazair, the modernist structure extends across 27.75 hectares (almost 70 acres), and is smaller only than the two mosques in Makkah and Madinah, Islam’s holiest sites, in Saudi Arabia. Its prayer room accommodates 120,000 people.
Built by a Chinese construction firm throughout the 2010s, the Great Mosque of Algiers also features the world’s tallest minaret, measuring at 869 feet (265 meters). Its modernist design contains Arab and North African flourishes to honor Algerian tradition and culture as well as a helicopter landing pad and a library that can house up to 1 million books.
The inauguration would guide Muslims “toward goodness and moderation,” said Ali Mohamed Salabi, the General Secretary of World Union of Muslim Ulemas.
Propagating a moderate brand of Islam has been a key priority in Algeria since government forces subdued an Islamist-led rebellion throughout the 1990s when a bloody civil war swept the country.
Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebboune inaugurated the mosque, fulfilling his promise to open it with great pomp and circumstance. The event, however, was mainly ceremonial. The mosque has been open to international tourists and state visitors to Algeria for roughly five years. An earlier ceremony was delayed.
The timing allows the mosque to officially open to the public in time to host nightly prayers during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins next month.
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