Great Mosque of Algeria, Africa?s largest and worlds third largest, opened

Algeria has opened the “Great Mosque of Algeria”, the largest of its kind in the whole of Africa and the third-largest in the world after the Prophet’s Mosque and the Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia. The construction of the mosque began back in 2012, during the era of the resigned Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, and was completed a year and a half ago.

An overview of the religious building

According to China State Construction Engineering, the Chinese company that supervised its construction, the religious edifice extends over an area of ​​more than 27 thousand hectares. The base of the mosque can accommodate up to 120,000 worshipers, and its minaret is 267 meters high. The minaret height makes it visible from all parts of the Algerian capital and it consists of 43 floors that can be accessed by elevators.

The interior of the mosque is decorated with Arabic calligraphy panels made of marble and wood, with an Andalusian character and it is furnished with blue carpets with floral motifs, with a traditional Algerian character.

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The infrastructure consists of 12 buildings, including a library containing approximately one million books, a lecture hall, a museum of Islamic art and history, a center for research on the history of Algeria, as well as gardens and water fountains.

The mission of the facility

According to Kamal Schatt, a member of the Association of Muslim Scholars the mission of the edifice will be “to organize fatwas and coordinate them with the lived Algerian reality, and for the Algiers Mosque to become a place to fight all forms of extremism, religious or secular.”

The inauguration of the mosque took place on the occasion of the anniversary of the Prophet’s birthday and key public figures such as the Algerian Prime Minister, Abdelaziz Jarad, the local government, and religious figures, and ambassadors of Islamic countries were present.