Faisal Mosque is the largest mosque in Pakistan and is located in the national city of Islamabad. Faisal Mosque is conceived as the National Mosque of Pakistan. It is the largest mosque in South Asia and one of the largest mosques in the world.
The impetus for the mosque began in 1966 when King Faisal bin Abdul-Aziz supported the initiative of the Pakistani Government to build a national mosque in Islamabad. In 1969, Turkish architect Vedat Dalokay was chosen. Construction of the mosque began in 1976, led by Azim Khan and was funded by government of Saudi Arabia. Both the mosque and the road leading to it were named after him after his assassination in 1975. The mosque was completed in 1986, and used to house the International Islamic University.
It is situated at the north end of Faisal Avenue, putting it at the northernmost end of the city and at the foot of Margalla Hills, the westernmost foothills of the Himalayas.
The Faisal Mosque is the work of architect, Vedat Dalokay. The minarets borrow their design from Turkish tradition. However, unlike traditional masjid design, it lacks a dome. The interior of this prayer hall holds a very large chandelier and its walls are decorated with mosaics and calligraphy by the famous Pakistani artist Sadequain. The mosaic pattern adorns the west wall, and has the kalimah written in early Kufic script. The mosque's architecture is a departure from the history of South Asian Islamic architecture. It is one of the most outstanding and modern Islamic architecture examples in the world. The Faisal Mosque was the largest mosque in the world from 1986 until 1993, when it was overtaken in size by the Hassan II Mosque in Morocco. Expansions of Masjid al-Haram and Al-Masjid al-Nabawi, Saudi Arabia relegated Faisal Mosque to fourth place in terms of size.
It has a covered area of 5,000 m2 (54,000 sq ft). It can accommodate 10,000 worshipers in its main prayer hall, 24,000 in its porticoes, 40,000 in its courtyard and another 200,000 in its adjoining grounds. Although its covered main prayer hall is smaller than that of the Hassan II Mosque, Faisal Mosque has the third largest capacity of accommodating worshipers in its adjoining grounds after the Masjid al-Haram and the Al-Masjid al-Nabawi. Each of the Mosque's four minarets is 80 m (260 ft) high (the tallest minarets in South Asia).