Al Farooq Umar ibn Al Khattab Mosque

It was in early March when the weather was still cool enough to pause for a moment after loading the Prado with groceries, that shoppers at the Spinneys supermarket in Umm Suqeim first noticed four scaffolding clad towers emerging above the rooftops of nearby villas and mansions.

A few weeks later, the steel lattice was removed to reveal a quadrangle of slender pencil like towers, each topped with a powder blue pinnacle with a hue almost exactly matched to the dusty winter skies of Dubai and created an illusion that seemed to leave the crescent moons of the minarets floating between heaven and earth.

Close up, the bulk of the building was still concealed from curious eyes by tall sheets of painted plywood, but teams of workers could be seen labouring with intensity.

Its almost daily progress was monitored by the residents of Jumeirah and Al Safa, and the parents and children of nearby schools who drove past it twice a day.

Inspired by the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, the new Al Farooq Omar ibn Al Khittab Mosque in Dubai is an architectural wonder that will be open to all.

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