This mosque is growing in the middle of a young, densely populated area of the metropolis—the new administrative and business center of Shymkent.
Even at this early stage of construction, the mosque is clearly visible from many locations throughout the city, and once completed, the white marble dome and minarets will be a clear guide for believers thanks to architectural illumination.
The mosque can hold up to 12 thousand worshippers at the same time. Despite its size, the mosque integrates seamlessly into the urban development plan.
The largest mosque in the region is a 12-hectare complex of buildings. It is constructed by LLP «Munay Kurylys Service». The mosque has four minarets with a total height of 63 meters; the main dome is 56 meters high inside.
Natural air flows through special equipment for disinfection and cooling in the summer and warming up in the winter to ventilate buildings. This technology is used in the construction of the Moscow metro. Ancient architectural technologies used in the construction of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi’s mausoleum are also taken into account. This is an additional natural ventilation principle to the basic one.
The area in front of the entrance to the mosque can accommodate up to 10,000 people, and a system of opening umbrellas is provided to protect against the weather. Green spaces alternate with fountain cascades throughout the complex.
The ideological inspiration for the construction was provided by the head of the company, «SOUTH-OIL» Serikzhan Seitzhanovich. The working group visited Abu-Dhabi (UAE) several times and thoroughly studied Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan’s magnificent mosque.
In Abu Dhabi city, there is a majestic mosque, one of the three largest mosques in the world, the Grand Mosque of Sheikh Zayed. Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan is known as the “Father of the UAE.” He was the country’s first president and was instrumental in bringing the Emirates into the international arena. He began construction on the Great Mosque in 1996, and he was buried on its grounds in 2004. I visited the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque several times and was astounded each time.
“At first I had a dream, and then a goal—to build a large snow-white mosque in white marble in Shymkent. We investigated all of the locations where white marble is mined and found in Turkey and Greece. After consulting with the Spiritual Administration of Muslims in Kazakhstan, we decided to design the mosque not only in the classical Islamic style, but also with a national flavor.”-comments Serikzhan Seitzhanovich.
The mosque complex includes a 1,000-seat congress hall, a wedding palace, a museum of Islamic history, a women’s educational center, a madrasah, a library with a reading room, administrative offices, a television center, a fitness center, and a 1,000-seat dining room. There is a three-level underground parking garage with 1,000 parking spaces, elevators, escalators, stairs, and disabled parking. People will ascend to namaz from the lower floor, where there are ablution rooms and a wardrobe.
The mosque is a place of prayer as well as a gathering place for worshippers, promoting convergence. Another great function of the mosque is enlightenment, as believers receive new knowledge there and think about the meaning of life and important actions in their lives.
The new mosque named after Seitzhan Kari Eszhanuly will become a new spiritual center for residents of the southern region and a landmark in Shymkent.
