It is the eighth largest mosque in the world. The idea of having such a grand mosque came to the late Shaikh Zayed two decades ago. Today, that dream has materialised as the Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Mosque, popularly known as the Grand Mosque, on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi. It is a creation that has come to be considered the pride of the UAE.
To document the story and the history of this magnificent mosque, Shawati' Publishing, an arm of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH), was commissioned to do a special project - The Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Grand Mosque Book Project. The result is The Shaikh Zayed Grand Mosque - VIP Limited Edition, a work of art on a work of art.
The heavy cream and gold embossed book on display at the Kinokuniya Book World in Dubai Mall, is poetry in motion. It portrays sheer visual beauty that takes your breath away, the splendour of the mosque as seen through the lens of internationally acclaimed photographers. The text accompanying the pictures is the expertise of Professor Robert Hillenbrand, a renowned Islamic scholar, from the University of Edinburgh in the UK.
Based on guidelines given by the Executive Council, and with the support of ADACH, the book, a tribute to the vision of Shaikh Zayed, documents the full scope of the mosque, from conceptualisation to finalisation.
The people who worked on the special book project, Sabah Al Abbasi, Project Director, Laila Al Abbasi, the Special Project Coordinator and Abdullah Al Shami, Projects Co-ordinator, at Shawati' publishing, Abu Dhabi, talk about their labour of love and the challenge they had at hand. Says Abbasi, "ADACH commissioned us to create a book on the mosque, a book that would take the reader on a journey from the inception of Late Shaikh Zayed's vision to create a mosque."
The task was daunting. Here was a grand structure that was complete and majestic in its form and symmetry. Now writers and photographers had to match that by interpreting it and communicating it to the world via a book. "It took us three years to complete this book," says Laila. "The entire process was a learning curve. Tremendous amounts of information had to be compiled from various parties as well as every single fact verified."
The book is divided into six chapters. The first five celebrate every aspect of construction and creation of the Grand Mosque. These five chapters are: Form and Structure; Nature and Geometry; Colour and Light; Texture and Surface and Calligraphy. The last chapter in the book is dedicated to the life and times of the late Shaikh Zayed. The photographers chosen to illustrate these chapters were Victor Romero (Spain), Pino Musi (Italy), Kazuyoshi Nomachi (Japan) Osama Al Zubaidi (UAE) and Omar Al Zaabi (UAE).
Al Abbasi elaborates on the task each photographer was given. "Each one was asked to capture images that highlight one among the five chosen themes for the book," says Al Abbasi. "The photographers employed special techniques to capture every image in a way that highlights the stunning detail of the art and architecture of the mosque. Similarly, even in printing we used special techniques that are rarely used in publishing today. For instance, some images were retouched with special ink varnishes to give certain sources a reflective sheen that is synonymous with the mosque.
"Other images were enhanced by the use of gold foiling where gold mosaics are placed in order to give the reader the same visual effect of the actual mosaics in real life. Image-laser engraving, a technique that was not used in printing so far, was also used at the end of the book on a rose detail, created specially as a dedication to the vision of late Shaikh Zayed."
Currently, the limited edition of the book is available for Dh4,500. However, the publisher will be introducing the second edition of the book next month, which promises to be less expensive (at the time of writing this feature, the exact price was not available).
Inside Info
The VIP edition of the book will be displayed at the London Book Fair, from April 11.
To know more about the mosque, log on to www.szgmc.ae (the site is under construction). For further details on the book, contact Laila Al Abbasi on laila.alabbasi@gmail.com.
Anyone, irrespective of their religion, can take a tour of the Grand Mosque. Contact the Abu Dhabi tourism authority for more information.
