Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque: Dress Code and Visitor Guide

Behaviour inside

None of this is complicated, but it matters to the people who pray here.

• Keep your voice low and set your phone to silent.
• Do not eat inside, and keep drinks out of sight; the carpet and marble are delicate, which is why the mosque restricts what you can carry.
• Couples should not hold hands, hug or kiss. The rules forbid any display of intimacy.
• Do not sit or lie on the floor to pose, and do not touch the inlaid walls and columns.
• Follow the marked route and the instructions of the staff, especially in rain or where maintenance work is under way.
• If prayer begins while you are there, step aside and let worshippers through. The main prayer hall may close to visitors for a short time.

Staff are used to visitors who are unsure and will tell you quietly if something needs adjusting, most often a scarf that has slipped back. Simply fix it and carry on.

What to look at

It is easy to walk through quickly and come away with an impression of white marble and nothing more. These are the details worth slowing down for.

The courtyard

The open courtyard covers about 17,400 square metres and is paved in marble inlaid with large floral designs by the British artist Kevin Dean, with tulips, lilies and irises curling in from the edges. More than 30 types of marble were used. The mosque describes it as possibly the largest marble mosaic in the world. Four minarets of about 107 metres stand at its corners.

Floral marble inlay in the courtyard of Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque — Photo: Unsplash

The domes and colonnades

There are 82 domes, in styles drawn mainly from Moroccan and Mughal architecture. The largest, over the main prayer hall, measures about 32.6 metres across. Around the courtyard run arcades with 1,096 columns, each clad in white marble and inlaid with semi-precious stones in the pietra dura technique, and topped with gilded capitals shaped like palm fronds. In hot weather these colonnades are also where you will want to walk.

The carpet

The main prayer hall is covered by what Guinness World Records listed in 2007 as the largest hand-knotted carpet in the world, about 5,400 square metres. Around 1,200 artisans worked on it. It was made in nine pieces, flown to Abu Dhabi and joined on site, and it is mostly New Zealand wool. Look closely and you will see low raised lines running across it: these mark the rows where worshippers stand to pray.

The chandeliers

Seven chandeliers hang in the mosque, three of them in the main prayer hall, with the largest in the centre at about 12 metres across. Their design follows the date palm, with the coloured crystal globes standing for the fruit. They are made of gilded stainless steel set with Swarovski crystals, and the medallions in the carpet below were designed to sit under them like reflections.

A crystal chandelier inside the prayer halls of the Grand Mosque — Photo: Unsplash

The qibla wall

The wall facing Mecca carries the ninety-nine names of God in Kufic calligraphy, each in a five-petalled flower, lit softly with fibre optics. It is deliberately calmer in colour than the rest of the hall so as not to distract people at prayer.

The reflecting pools

Ten long pools tiled in shades of blue run around the outside of the mosque. They are the reason for the classic photographs of the domes reflected in still water.

Best time of day

The courtyard is open to the sky and the marble reflects heat and light. From May to September it gets very hot around midday, so if you are visiting in those months, aim for the morning or late afternoon. Morning brings fewer crowds on many days and cooler stone underfoot. Late afternoon gives softer light on the white marble, and if you stay on into the evening you see the outside lighting, which is designed to follow the phases of the moon: the projected clouds on the walls are darker at the start of the lunar month and grow brighter towards the full moon.

The Grand Mosque lit at dusk and reflected in the surrounding pools — Photo: Unsplash

Friday needs planning because of the midday closure, and the weeks of Ramadan bring different hours and a different atmosphere. Visiting in Ramadan can be very rewarding, but check the official timings first.

Photography etiquette

Photos and videos for personal use are allowed with ordinary cameras and phones. Professional equipment and any filming for commercial or media purposes need prior permission from the mosque. The rules ask visitors to take photographs at the designated photo stops, and staff can stop people whose photography breaks the rules. A few points of courtesy go further than the written rules:

• Do not photograph people at prayer.
• Do not pose in a way that would look out of place in a church or temple: no lying on the floor, no jumping shots, no dramatic poses.
• Drones are not allowed over the mosque.
• Tripods count as professional equipment, so leave them at your hotel.

Should you go with a guide?

You can visit on your own. The mosque also runs free walk-in cultural tours in English and Arabic, led by its own guides; they start on the east side and last under an hour, and you should arrive about 15 minutes before the tour begins. That is a good choice if you are staying in Abu Dhabi and have your own transport.

If you want more time and more explanation, our Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Guided Walk lasts about two hours. You meet the guide at the mosque, go over the dress code and the rules, and then move through the courtyard and halls at a calm pace while the guide explains the marble, the inlay work and the calligraphy. There are morning and late-afternoon slots, and there is no hotel transfer, so you make your own way there. It suits travellers already in Abu Dhabi who want to understand what they are looking at.

Visiting on a day trip from Dubai

The drive from Dubai to Abu Dhabi takes about one and a half to two hours each way, which is why many travellers prefer not to drive themselves. We run several options:

• Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Half Day from Dubai: about five hours with hotel pickup in Dubai, including the cruise terminals at Port Rashid and Dubai Harbour, a small-group vehicle and a guide. Choose a morning departure for cooler weather or an afternoon one for softer light. It suits a busy schedule.
• Grand Mosque and Louvre Abu Dhabi from Dubai: about nine hours, combining the mosque with a stop on the Corniche and time inside Louvre Abu Dhabi with an entry ticket. A good fit if you care about architecture and art.
• Abu Dhabi City Tour: Mosque, Palace and Towers: for guests staying in Abu Dhabi or arriving at Port Zayed. In about six hours you see the mosque, go inside Qasr Al Watan, the presidential palace, ride up to the Etihad Towers observation deck and stop outside Louvre Abu Dhabi.

On every option the dress code is the same, and on the guided walk suitable clothing is not provided, so pack it before you leave your hotel.

Who this visit does not suit

Be honest with yourself about two things. If you are not willing to dress to the code, you will not get in, and arguing at the gate does not change that. And if you only want one quick photograph, the drive, the security check and the walk from the car park make it a long outing for a single picture. For everyone else, including families with children who are happy to walk on flat ground, the mosque is the one place in Abu Dhabi most visitors remember. Children are welcome, but they need to stay with their parents the whole time.

A short checklist

• Book your access pass on the official website, or come with a tour that arranges the visit.
• Pack covering clothes and a secure headscarf for women; long trousers and sleeves for men.
• Wear shoes you can take off easily.
• Leave food, toys, tripods and drones behind.
• Check Friday and Ramadan hours the week before.
• In summer, choose the morning or late afternoon, and use the shaded colonnades.