Malé Friday Mosque
The Malé Friday Mosque or the Malé Hukuru Miskiy (Dhivehi: މާލެ ހުކުރު މިސްކިތް) also known as the Old Friday Mosque is one of the oldest and most ornate mosques in the city of Malé, Kaafu Atoll, Maldives. Coral boulders of the genus Porites, found throughout the archipelago, are the basic materials used for construction of this and other mosques in the country because of its suitability. Although the coral is soft and easily cut to size when wet, it makes sturdy building blocks when dry. The mosque was added to the tentative UNESCO World Heritage cultural list in 2008 as unique examples of sea-culture architecture.
Master carpenters of the Malé Hukuru Miskiy were Ali Maavadi Kaleyfaanu and Mahmud Maavadi Kaleyfaanu from Kondey, Huvadu.
The calligrapher was Chief Justice Al Faqh Al Qazi Jamaaludheen.
It took 2 years to construct the mosque. In terms of artistic excellence and construction technique using only interlocking assembly, it is one of the finest coral stone buildings of the world.
Location
The mosque is opposite the Medhuziyaaraiy and the Muliaage in Malé. The Medhuziyaaraiy is the tomb of a Sunni Muslim Somali visitor named Abu al Barakat . His venerated tomb now stands on the grounds of Hukuru Mosque in the capital Malé. Built in 1656, this is the oldest mosque in Maldives.
History
The mosque was built in 1658, during the reign of Ibrahim Iskandar I (1648–1687). It was built over an earlier mosque constructed in 1153 by the first Muslim Sultan of Maldives, Mohamed Bin Abdullah, after his conversion to Islam. Although the older mosque was reportedly refurbished by Ahmed Shihabuddeen in 1338, there are no written records attesting this. In 1656, Iskandar began building a new mosque when the old one became too small to accommodate the increasing number of devotees. Its construction, which took one-and-a-half years, was completed in 1658. Built primarily of coral, the mosque originally had a thatched roof (common during the period). After his 1668 Hajj, Ibrahim I began building a munnaaru (minaret) and a gate at the southern...
