Al Noor Mosque, Ottoman mosque along Khalid Lagoon, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Al Noor Mosque stands on the Khaled lagoon at the Buhaira Corniche in Sharjah, built in Turkish Ottoman style after the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul. It has eight domes: a large central dome ringed by half-domes, with stained-glass windows set around it. Two tall minarets rise at the corners of the building, whose exterior and interior columns carry carvings and ornament.
Al Noor Mosque was built in the Ottoman style, modelled on the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul, and stands on the Khaled lagoon at the Buhaira Corniche. The sources record no construction date or patron; the 2005 completion and the attribution to Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed al Qassimi are not supported. In 2014 the mosque entered the Guinness World Records for the largest wooden charity box, collected during its Ramadan donation campaign.
Al Noor means "the light" in Arabic, and the mosque is one of those in Sharjah open to the public, out of more than 600 in the emirate. Its interior columns and walls carry carved inscriptions and ornamentation inside and out, and the prayer hall is arranged in separate sections for different groups of worshippers.
Visitors can see the mosque on certain weekdays at set times, with guided tours also available by email request. It is advisable to check ahead and wear appropriate clothing, as this is an active place of worship.
In 2014 the mosque entered the Guinness World Records for the "World's largest wooden charity box", built for its Ramadan donation campaign. The record concerns the collection box itself, not the building.
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