"And his throne/dominion extends on the water
- that He might manifest to you, which of you is best in action....”
-Qur'an 11:7
"I wish Casablanca to be endowed with a large, fine building of which it can be proud until the end of time . . . I want to build this mosque on the water, because God's throne is on the water. Therefore, the faithful who go there to pray, to praise the creator on firm soil, can contemplate God's sky and ocean.
-King Hassan II
Located right on the Atlantic Ocean, Richard and I had walked around the exterior of the Hassan II Mosque months ago (see post from 09/28/2016). Since that day, I have wanted to see the inside of this prestigious religious center, and third largest mosque in the world.
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| My awesome 4th grade group, Hassan II Mosque in the background |
Any Muslim can enter this mosque, brainchild of King Hassan II, during one of the five prayer times per day. However, while most mosques in Morocco are closed to non-muslims, this is not the case here. I accompanied GWA's fourth graders, most of which had never been inside, and we were treated to a guided tour.
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| GWA's Fourth Grade |
Upon entering, we removed our shoes and were given plastic bags in which to put them. We then walked into a cavernous room made of stone and wood, and met our English-speaking guide. She was quite knowledgable and the tour proved very interesting and educational. Here's what we learned from our guide.
It took 10,000 “rockmen” to build the mosque and they were “like minions.”
Most of the materials used in construction come from Morocco. All the carving and other decorations are handmade.
There is 53,000 square meters of wood in the mosque, sculpted and painted by hand. All wood decoration was created on the ground floor and then moved into place.
The plaster hand-carving was done on ladders and scaffolding. It took one man four days of work to carve only one square meter. Speakers are hidden in the decorations so as not to destroy the look of the plaster. They look like boxes, no wires are exposed, and they are basically unnoticeable.
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| Intricate hand-carved plaster |
This part of the ceiling is made of cedar from the Atlas Mountains, and weighs 1,100 tons. It is retractable and slides away into two sections. This allows full view of the sky and ventilates the room.
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| Retractable Ceiling |
The interior of the mosque can accommodate 25,000 people; 20,000 men on the main floor and 5,000 women in the balcony area. There is a staircase for the women to get to the balcony that is decorated by cedar wood. There is also an escalator available for use. Also, the area outside of the mosque can hold about 80,000 additional worshippers. On a daily basis, only around 100-200 people come to the mosque to pray, however, during Ramadan some 200,000 people have been known to show up!
The interior of the columns are concrete, with a granite surface added. The floor is made of marble. Both the granite and the marble are from Morocco.
The chandeliers were imported from Murono, Italy, an island outside of Venice. They are handmade, are hung quite high and weigh a lot. To solve the problem of maintenance, they can electrically descend for easy cleaning and bulb changing.
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| Handmade chandelier imported from Italy |
The doors are made of titanium from Russia, rather than wood. The mosque is so near the water that wood on the outside of the building would easily rot due to humidity, heat and sea spray.
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| The "Royal Gate" from the outside |
The largest door called the “Royal Gate”, is the main entrance to the mosque, and weighs 34 tons. It was designed to open and close hydraulically because it is so massive.
The downstairs fountain that can be seen through the glass was not in service. The entire area can be filled with water “like a small river” and is for decoration.
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| View through the floor to the fountain area |
The minbar is the “preaching chair” or lectern where the imam (prayer leader) delivers sermons. Also, the Hussainia, is where the speaker sits and teaches.
Wooden ceilings are carved, with some being left natural, and some decorated by paint.
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| Carved, wooden ceiling, partly painted and partly natural; it is also lit |
Muslims must clean themselves before prayer, which can be done at home or at the mosque. The Hassan II cleaning room is located downstairs where there are 41 marble fountains in the shape of lotus flowers. The ritual of cleaning goes like this: hands are cleaned 3 times, then gargle 3 times, sniff the water in your nose three times, wash face 3 times, wash arms 3 times (right then left), then wipe hair and ears, and finish with feet. Faucets are used when there are limited people praying so as not to waste the water; the fountains are only used during busy religious times. The women’s washing area is separate from that of the men.
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| Lotus flower fountain for washing |
The bath area is decorated with hand-carved plaster and colorful zellige tilework. Zellige is an Islamic art form where tiles are individually chiseled into geometric shapes, and then are set into plaster in a mosaic pattern.
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Zellige on the columns in the washing area
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| Close up of the zillige on the outside of the mosque |
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The Hassan II also has a hammam, a communal steam bath area that looks more like a large swimming pool. The heated water makes it the ideal place to be cleaned and relax. Steam comes out of devices on the wall, and aromatics are added. This is the men's area, and there is another for women.
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| Hammam |
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| Steam Vents |
I have read that part of the mosque floor is glass, allowing worshippers to kneel over the sea. Unfortunately, this privilege is reserve strictly for the King and other royals, so we didn't get to see this part.
We loved seeing the Hassan II Mosque!
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