Dubai: Dubai’s Al Khail Gate community has got a new mosque, fulfilling a long pending demand of the residents, just in time for Ramadan.
The residential community located off Al Khail Road in Al Quoz officially opened the doors of its community mosque to worshippers on Wednesday, the management said on Thursday.
“With a towering 131-foot minaret and a dome featuring contemporary architecture, the mosque, built on a total plot area of 27,718 square feet, spans a floor area of 16,074 square feet,” it said in a press release.
Located behind Al Khail Gate’s community centre facing Building 1-5, the mosque has the capacity to accommodate 1,291 worshippers for daily prayers and Friday sermons.
Among other conveniences, the mosque includes a prayer hall for women, as well as accessibility amenities for people of determination and accommodation for the imam and muezzin.
The community which opened in 2009 has more than 9,000 apartments. The Muslim worshippers had been using a temporary porta cabin structure as a mosque that had limited facilities for ablutions.
Sohail Shaikh, a resident who offered the Maghrib and Taraweeh prayers in the new mosque on Wednesday, said worshippers were happy to get the new mosque.
“It was full house and some people still had to pray outside. But everybody is happy with the new mosque. It is big and has facilities for ablutions. We had to do ablutions at home earlier.”
A Ramadan tent has also been set up on the premises of the new mosque, he said.
Shahanaz Basheer, a student living in the community, said she was excited to know about the prayer hall for women. “We didn’t have one in the old mosque. I am so happy that we can go there for prayers during Ramadan.”
