Visiting the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque: booking, tours and what the centre offers

The short answer

Worshippers and visitors enter the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in different ways. The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre's site-wide banner says worshippers may enter directly without an entry ticket, and that visitors should pre-book the visit and obtain an online access pass.[1] Everything a non-worshipping visitor books, from the access pass to the night-time Sura tour and the museum, goes through the centre's own pages.

The rest of this guide sets out what each option is, what the centre says about it, and the points on which the centre's pages, and Visit Abu Dhabi, do not agree.

Who runs the visit

The mosque is a working congregational mosque in Abu Dhabi. The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre was established in 2008 by a decree of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and its stated aims include serving the community as a congregational mosque and encouraging cultural, academic and tourist visits from inside and outside the UAE.[14] Visit Abu Dhabi's page for the mosque likewise describes it as an active mosque and sends readers to the centre's website to book.[16]

The centre's page on the mosque and its founder says construction began on 5 November 1996, gives a maximum capacity of approximately 50,000 people, and says the inner prayer halls were first opened for worship at Eid Al Adha in 2007. The mosque takes its name from Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, and the same page says the Qur'an is recited around the clock at his mausoleum.[15]

Booking: what the centre's pages say, and where they differ

The banner on every page of the centre's site tells visitors to pre-book and obtain an online access pass.[1] The visitor code of conduct is firmer still: under its general guidelines it says visits will not be confirmed without prior booking.[3]

The centre's own booking page puts it differently. Its Important Notice says visitors may reach the mosque through the Visitor Centre and the designated visitor routes either by registering at registration points for their visitor category inside the Visitor Centre or by making an advance booking.[2] That is a real difference: one page presents advance booking as the requirement, the other as one of two routes. XTOUR cannot tell from the pages which reflects current practice at the gate; XTOUR's reading is that booking ahead on the centre's own page satisfies both.

The same booking page opens with a statement that the mosque is open to visitors 24 hours a day, seven days a week, then lists daytime visiting times and Sura tours overnight.[2] The centre's separate Visiting Hours page gives daytime hours with last-entry times, a split Friday schedule and different hours for the first twenty and the last ten days of Ramadan.[6] XTOUR's reading is that the 24-hour line refers to the overnight Sura tours rather than open access at any hour. XTOUR does not reprint the hours, which the centre changes for Ramadan.

Is there a fee?

The two official sources disagree. The centre's FAQ, answering "Is there an entry fee?", says admission fees apply to visitors and lists separate categories for visitors from outside the UAE, Emirates ID holders, visitors through tour operators and official delegations.[4] The access-pass form carries a "Total Visitor Amount" line in dirhams.[2] Visit Abu Dhabi's mosque page says there is no fee to enter.[16]

XTOUR publishes no prices. The centre runs the visit, so its booking form is the place where any charge will appear.

Cultural tours, private tours and the e-guide

The centre's cultural tours page describes free tours on the mosque's role in coexistence and tolerance, the history of its construction and the Islamic art and architecture in its details. It lists fixed start times, a separate Ramadan schedule and a table for "Unseen Glimpses" tours.[5] According to the FAQ, these are walk-in tours led by the centre's cultural tour specialists, starting on the east side of the mosque, with visitors asked to arrive about fifteen minutes early.[4]

The length is stated three ways. The tours page says 30 to 45 minutes, and one FAQ answer says approximately 30 to 45 minutes, while a later answer on the same FAQ says the tour takes 45 to 60 minutes.[4][5]

Language matters for planning. The FAQ says the centre's guides currently offer tours in English and Arabic only.[4] For other languages, the centre's multimedia e-guide, a device it calls "El-Delleel", is described as available in 14 languages, with sign language and descriptive-language options.[11]

Private cultural tours are booked through the same individual-booking page, which asks for them at least 24 hours before the tour time.[2] A guided tour is not compulsory: the FAQ says the mosque welcomes individuals and groups with or without a guide.[4]

The Sura tour: outside daytime hours

The Sura tour is the centre's booking for visits after the mosque's daytime visiting hours. The FAQ lists "Sura Night Tours" as running "Daily from 9:00 PM to 9:00 AM".[4] Its booking form is separate from the access pass and asks for the purpose of visiting at that time, offering "Passing Traveler", "Unable To Visit During Official Working" and "Other", then an airport field listing the UAE's airports, and ends with a payment step.[7]

XTOUR's reading is that the form is designed with transit passengers in mind, but the centre does not say the tour is restricted to them. The form also asks each visitor's preferred language.[7]

The museum, Diya and Souq Al Jami'

The Light & Peace Museum, in the centre's words, offers sensory and interactive experiences, artefacts and artworks reflecting Islamic civilisation's exchanges with other cultures and the values of tolerance in UAE history.[8] Diya is a separate 360-degree sound-and-light experience that moves from a star-lit sky across the UAE's landscapes to the mosque's minarets and domes.[9] Both are booked on one form, which says to secure the booking no more than one month before the visit date.[10]

Souq Al Jami' is the centre's retail and dining addition, which its page says has 51 outlets and a family "Fun Block".[12]

Groups and tour operators

The centre's site menu has its own Tour Operator Registration and Tour Operator Booking services.[1] The code of conduct says tourist groups and private visits must complete all booking procedures before arriving, that operators must allocate at least one person to accompany them, and that the centre may cancel any visit at any time without prior notice.[3] What the same code asks of operators on their visitors' clothing is set out with the rest of the code in the mosque's dress and conduct rules.

On arrival

According to the centre's FAQ, there is an inspection before entrance, with separate tracks for women and men, and wheelchairs and club cars are available for people of determination and older visitors. The FAQ also says the centre does not provide transport to the mosque.[4] Its Getting Here page places the mosque between the three bridges linking Abu Dhabi to the mainland and names Al Salam Gate 6 as the entrance.[13]

Visit Abu Dhabi's page adds that on Fridays the main prayer hall is closed to visitors for part of the day while Friday prayers take place.[16] The centre's own Visiting Hours page also shows a midday break in Friday visiting hours, but its start and end times differ from the ones Visit Abu Dhabi gives, so the centre's page is the one to check.[6]

What to wear, what may not be brought in and where photographs are allowed are set out in the mosque's dress and conduct rules, as the centre states them.

What XTOUR does not know

XTOUR does not publish the mosque's hours, last-entry times, fees, tour start times or Ramadan and Eid arrangements; the centre's pages carry them and change them. XTOUR does not know whether registration inside the Visitor Centre is offered on every day, how far ahead access passes sell out, or which areas close to visitors during particular prayers beyond what the pages above state. XTOUR does not sell tickets or tours for the mosque.

For the city around it, see the Abu Dhabi destination page and the UAE country page. Ramadan changes to visiting are covered in Ramadan in the UAE for visitors.