His Excellency Dr Mohamed Muizzu, President of the Republic of Maldives, laid the foundation stone on Sunday for the Sultan Mohamed Bin Abdullah Grand Mosque and Islamic Civilisation Centre in Hulhumalé Phase II, a project built to commemorate 900 years since the Maldives embraced Islam.
The foundation stone was laid alongside the Minister of Islamic Affairs, Dr Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, His Excellency Yahya Hassan Alqahtani, and other dignitaries, the President’s Office said.
Ten Thousand Worshippers
The mosque is designed to accommodate ten thousand worshippers, along with imam offices, administrative facilities and space for educational and cultural programmes. That capacity would make it the largest place of worship in the country by a wide margin. The Islamic Centre in Malé, the current largest, holds about 4,500.
The Islamic Civilisation Centre beside it is to house an Islamic library, a cultural centre and a Quran museum, together with exhibition halls, a community hall, visitor areas, an Islamic bookstore and a gift shop. Waqf buildings, commercial space, parking and education facilities are planned on the same site.
Al Rajhi Company of Saudi Arabia is funding the project in full and has also designed the facility. Completion is targeted within two years. The Minister of Islamic Affairs described it as a very important Islamic project for the future of the country.
The Name and the Anniversary
The mosque carries the name of the sultan who accepted Islam in 1153, King Dhovemi, who took the title Sultan Muhammad ibn Abdullah and is remembered as Dharumavantha Rasgefaanu. Laying the foundation during the anniversary week links the largest religious building the country has attempted to the event it commemorates.
The ceremony followed the commemoration at Hulhumalé Central Park the previous day, where the President announced the establishment of Maldives Awqaf Investments Limited, the national endowment company that will hold and develop waqf property for religious expenditure.
What It Adds to Hulhumalé
The site places a national scale religious and cultural institution in Phase II, the newer half of Hulhumalé, where the resident population is still growing into the infrastructure already built. A facility of this size draws visitors, requires parking and transport planning, and anchors the surrounding blocks in a way few other buildings do.
With full external funding and a two year construction target, the project avoids the budget exposure that usually accompanies a building of this scale. The variables now are the construction programme itself and the operating arrangements for the civilisation centre, which will need staffing, collections and programming to function as more than an adjunct to the mosque.
