Souvenir on Baitur Rahman Mosque USA Inauguration — Page 11
Masjid Baitur Rahman Salient Features The Masjid is located in Montgomery County, Maryland, at the intersection of Good H ope Road and Briggs Chaney Road, in the corridor between two main highways - Columb ia Pike and New Hampshire Avenue. It is fifteen miles north ofWashington, District of Co lumbia, and five miles o ut side the National Beltway. The area g iv es the feeling of an ecumenical spi ritual mosaic as there are more than two dozen churches, temples a nd re li gious centers in its vicinity belonging to various Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist denominations. The two-story building of the Masjid, with a lower level basement for administratiYe use, is on an eleven-acre parcel ofland. The total constructed ar ea is 22,000 square feet Th ere are two additi ona l structures on the land, one for th e residence of Im am and th e other for a satellite eart h-station contro l location. Adjacent to the building is a parking l ot for 125 car s. The exteri or of the Masjid is made of almost 200 pieces of panels of exposed precast concrete in off. white color, with dark green Kirkstone band under the cornice and over the dome's drum. The dome is 24 feet in diameter with stainless steel claddings, twenty-five feet above roof leve l. There is a minaret, ninety feet tall, also with a stainless steel clad top. Arched windows of the upper level are gracefu ll y designed above square and rectangular windows, decorated spandrels and grill s. The dome also has small arch ed glass windows for natural li ght to reach the interior of the Masjid. The design of the Masjid combi nes gracefu ll y the architectural elements of the East and the West It exhibits both the Washington's neoclassical architecture style as well as the eastern Islamic traditional features, and makes it a simple yet dignified and beautiful place of worship. The prayer halls in the upper two levels can accommodate approximately 1300 worshipers at a time. As the Islamic liturgical worship, Salat, involves different postures of human body, including prostration - to express complete submi ss i on to God, there are no seats in the prayer halls. Instead, green carpet rows are laid down, wall to wall, for the comfort of the worshipers. Th e second floor has, under the dome, a semicircular opening above the Mehrab (where the I mam stands to lead the prayer) to make the interior of the dome visible from the first floor as well and to maximize the reach of natural li ght The upper prayer hall is designated exclusively for the ladies. It has a glass sem icircul ar wall through which the Mehrab and the dome are visible. For the convenien~ ofladies with sma ll children, there are additional rooms including a nursery. Both the upper floors have spacious hallways, Wuzu (ablution) areas, and access to elevators for the handicapped. The basement has office rooms for the National Headquarters and local officials of the Washington Metropolitan community, with an open multipurpose space in the middle. It also has a spacious kitchen well-equipped with modern utilities and a dumb-waiter to take food to either of the two upper floors. Areas are reserved fo r audio-video control, translation and a library, while the prayer halls have projectors, screens and televisions installed to watch and listen to religious sermons and discourses. The Masjid is equipped to receive international religious programs relayed by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Television, London, through satellite system, and the programs in the Masjid can also be relayed throughout North and South Ame rica via international satellite communication systems. I