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Saddam Mosque - Third Largest in the World

Written by Ihsaan Abrahams
Wednesday, 13 May 2009
Saddam Mosque Following the major combat phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Saddam Mosque was renamed the Al Rahman Mosque. The Shiite Hawza assumed control of the mosque within days after the regime fell. In April 2003 Shiite Muslims held prayers at the al-Rahman Mosque, still under construction in Baghdad's al-Mansour neighborhood, and chanted in one voice, "Muslims. Not Sunnis or Shiites." In 1999 Saddam Hussein began construction of what was intended to be the largest mosque ever -- on a 100 acre site, as big as two football fields, 20 stories high, with 64 domes. The other mosques under construction in Baghdad are the Arahman and Saddam mosques. The Arahman mosque is due to be finished in two years and the Saddam mosque in 2015. The al-Rahman mosque is being buit in the horse-race area of the al-Mansour district in Baghdad. The skeleton of the Saddam Mosque was already up by 2003. When completed, the structure was to be a replica of the Umm al-Ma'arik mosque, but five times larger and will thus be the third biggest in the world after those of Mecca and Medina. The Saddam mosque was being built on the land previously occupied by the old airport of Baghdad. Construction on that site reportedly began in 1998. Saddam Mosque Distance View Construction Construction Ariel View