The Madina Mosque of Shillong: A poetry in glass
A mosque serves different functions in the Islamic culture, starting from being a prayer house to a place of religious education. Over the centuries, unique and magnificent mosques have been built all over the world. Some examples are the wood mosque of Iran, the marble mosque (The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque) of Abu Dhabi, the brick mosque (The Great Mosque of Djenné) of Mali, and the red stone mosque (Badshahi Mosque) of Lahore in Pakistan. Well, there’s a glass mosque too.
But do you know of the glass mosque in the Laban area of Shillong? Well, it’s the glass mosque in India. Yes, we are talking about the Madina Mosque here. Let us find more about this unique prayer house of the Islamic people.
Why glass?
The story behind this architectural wonder is quite interesting. The tale starts with the birth of the Shillong Muslim Union (SMU) in 1905. In 1982, Mr. Sayeedullah Nongrum (Indian politician, Ex-MLA Meghalaya and philanthropist) took charge of the SMU as the general secretary. Under Nongrum’s guidance, the construction of the actual structure began in the Laban area near Garrison Grounds along the Umshyrpi River, as it was difficult for local Muslims, especially women, to offer prayers in open grounds. The then one-floored mosque was opened to locals on 29th August, 2008.
Later, the union reached out to a construction company based in Ajmer to further build the mosque, but they quoted a very high figure. As the SMU was dependent only on donations, the leaders decided to construct the mosque with steel frames and glass for cost control. This is how the glass wonder was born. Nongrum opened the mosque, and Salman Khurshid (Union Law and Minority Affairs Minister in 2012), Shamim Akhtar (Pakistani politician) and Vincent Pala (Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs in 2012) formally inaugurated it in a grand ceremony on 18 October 2012.
The grand Madina is the only glass mosque in India that serves Sunni Muslims, the largest Muslim group in Meghalaya.
The architecture
The Madina Mosque is a huge building with a central primary prayer hall and numerous smaller prayer chambers and gardens. Adorned with arched windows and ornate carvings, the mosque’s exterior is in traditional Islamic white and green, and the central dome is embellished with a golden hue. The structure has five domes: One large central dome and four small side domes. This 121×61-foot, four-storeyed building houses an orphanage, a library and an Islamic theological institute.
This is the largest mosque in Meghalaya that can accommodate around 2,000 Muslims during congregational prayers. A total of 8,000 individuals can be accommodated together in the mosque and the adjacent Idgah for a gathering or prayer.
A place for women to pray!
Nongrum believed that women should also be allowed to step into a masjid and pray. But he observed that local Muslim women faced a challenging time praying in the absence of privacy. So, in 2008 itself, he ensured that the Shillong glass mosque has a separate area for women to offer namaz.