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The Taj-ul-Masajid (Arabic : تَاجُ ٱلْمَسَاجِد, romanized: Tāj-ul-Masājid, lit. 'Crown of Mosques'), also known as the Tāj-ul-Masjid (Arabic : تَاجُ ٱلْمَسْجِد), is a Sunni mosque, affiliated with Tablighi Jamaat, part of the Deobandi movement, located in Bhopal, in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. [1] With capacity for c. 175,000 worshippers, it is the largest mosque in India and, as of 2014 [update] , was the ninth largest mosque in the world. [2] [3]
The construction of the Taj-ul-Masajid was started by Nawab Shah Jahan Begum of Bhopal, in the newly built walled suburb of Shahjahanabad. The exact year when construction was started is unclear; Sharma[ who? ] estimated it to be 1871.[ citation needed ] The Bhopal-based journalist and the author of Masajid-e-Bhopal (transl. The Mosques in Bhopal), Aarif Aziz stated the date as 1887. [4]
After Shah Jahan Begum died in 1901, the mosque continued to be built by her daughter, Sultan Jahan Begum, till the end of her lifetime. The structure was planned in the midst of three water bodies, namely: Munshi Hussain Talab; Noor Mahal Talab; and Motia Talab. [5] Hamidullah Khan helped construct one gate of the mosque on the suggestions of Shah Jahan Begum. [4]
The construction work was later on led by Islamic scholar Imran Khan Nadwi, whose brother Salman Khan Nadwi, supervised the constructions. The construction was complete by 1958 at an expenditure of 20 million Indian rupees. [4] The entrance of the mosque was renovated with motifs from 13th century Syrian mosques donated by the Emir of Kuwait in memory of his late wife. [6]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the mosque was used as a vaccination center. [7]
The Taj-ul-Masajid largely takes inspiration from Mughal architecture. [8] The mosque has a pink facade topped by two 18-storey high octagonal minarets with marble domes, an impressive main hallway with attractive pillars, and marble flooring resembling the likes of Jama Masjid in Delhi and the Badshahi Mosque of Lahore. [9] It has a courtyard with a large ablution tank in the centre. It has a double-storeyed gateway with four recessed archways and nine cusped multifold openings in the main prayer hall. The massive pillars in the hall hold 27 ceilings through squinted arches of which 16 ceilings are decorated with ornate petalled designs. [10]
The mosque also features a zenana , rare given that prayer from home was the norm for women at the time of the mosque's construction. [11] [12]
Bhopal Tablighi Ijtema, an annual three-day congregation of the Tablighi Jamaat was hosted in the Taj-ul-Masajid between 1948 and 2001. [4] It was shifted to Intkhedi. [13] outside the city due to shortage of space.[ citation needed ]
Bhopal is the capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the City of Lakes, due to presence of various natural and artificial lakes near the city boundary. It is also one of the greenest cities in India. It is the 16th largest city in India and 131st in the world. After the formation of Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal was part of the Sehore district. It was bifurcated in 1972 and a new district, Bhopal, was formed. Flourishing around 1707, the city was the capital of the former Bhopal State, a princely state of the British ruled by the Nawabs of Bhopal until India's independence in 1947. India achieved independence on 15 August 1947. Bhopal was one of the last states to sign the ‘Instrument of Accession’. The ruler of Bhopal acceded to the Indian government, and Bhopal became an Indian state on 1 May 1949. Sindhi refugees from Pakistan were accommodated in Bairagarh, a western suburb of Bhopal.
Burhanpur is a historical city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the administrative seat of Burhanpur District. It is situated on the north bank of the Tapti River and 512 kilometres (318 mi) northeast of city of Mumbai, 340 kilometres (211 mi) southwest of the state's capital city of Bhopal. The city is a Municipal Corporation.
Mughal architecture is the type of Indo-Islamic architecture developed by the Mughals in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries throughout the ever-changing extent of their empire in the Indian subcontinent. It developed from the architectural styles of earlier Muslim dynasties in India and from Iranian and Central Asian architectural traditions, particularly Timurid architecture. It also further incorporated and syncretized influences from wider Indian architecture, especially during the reign of Akbar. Mughal buildings have a uniform pattern of structure and character, including large bulbous domes, slender minarets at the corners, massive halls, large vaulted gateways, and delicate ornamentation; examples of the style can be found in modern-day Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.
The Nawabs of Bhopal were the Muslim rulers of Bhopal, now part of Madhya Pradesh, India. The nawabs first ruled under the Mughal Empire from 1707 to 1737, under the Maratha Confederacy from 1737 to 1818, then under British rule from 1818 to 1947, and independently thereafter until it was acceded to the Union of India in 1949. The female nawabs of Bhopal held the title Nawab Begum of Bhopal.
Shahjahan Begum was the Nawab Begum of Bhopal for two periods: 1844–60, and secondly during 1868–1901.
Bhopal State was founded by Maharaja of Parmar Rajputs. In the beginning of 18th-century, Bhopal State was converted into an Islamic principality, in the invasion of the Afghan Mughal noble Dost Muhammad Khan. It was a tributary state within the Maratha Confederacy during 18th century (1737–1818), a princely salute state with 19-gun salute in a subsidiary alliance with British India from 1818 to 1947, and an independent state from 1947 to 1949. Islamnagar was founded and served as the State's first capital, which was later shifted to the city of Bhopal.
Bhopal District is a district of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. The city of Bhopal serves as its administrative headquarters. The district is part of Bhopal Division.
Raj Bhavan is the official residence of the governor of Madhya Pradesh. It is located in the capital city of Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
The Markazi Masjid, also known as the Dewsbury Markaz or Dar ul Ulum, is a mosque in the Savile Town area of Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, England.
Hamidullah Khan was the last ruling Nawab of the princely salute state of Bhopal. He ruled from 1926 when his mother, Begum Kaikhusrau Jahan Begum, abdicated in his favor, until 1949 and held the honorific title until his death in 1960. A delegate to the Round Table Conference in London, he served as Chancellor of the Chamber of Princes from 1944 to 1947, when India became independent.
The Jama Mosque is a 17th-century congregational mosque located in the historic core of Agra, Uttar Pradesh. It was built by Jahanara Begum, the eldest daughter of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, during the latter's reign. It is the principal mosque in the city of Agra, and lies close to Agra Fort.
The Nizamuddin Markaz Mosque, also called Banglewali Masjid, is a Sunni mosque located in Nizamuddin West in South Delhi, India. It is the birthplace and global centre of the Tablighi Jamaat, the missionary and reformist movement started by Muhammad Ilyas Kandhlawi in 1926. The congregation is led by his great-grandson, Ameer Muhammad Saad Kandhlawi, since 2015.
Taj Mahal is a palace built by Sultan Shah Jahan, Begum of Bhopal. It is located beside the Taj-ul-Masajid in Bhopal, India.
Islamnagar is a panchayat village in the Bhopal district of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located in the Huzur tehsil and the Phanda block.
Bhopal Tablighi Ijtema is an annual Islamic Ijtema (congregation) or Aalmi Ijtema held in Bhopal, India.
Persian Inscriptions on Indian Monuments is a book written in Persian by Dr Ali Asghar Hekmat E Shirazi and published in 1956 and 1958 and 2013. New edition contains the Persian texts of more than 200 epigraphical inscriptions found on historical monuments in India, many of which are currently listed as national heritage sites or registered as UNESCO world heritage, published in Persian; an English edition is also being printed.
Zubair-ul-Ḥassanc. was an Indian Islamic scholar and fourth emir of Tablighi Jamaat in India.
Parason is a township located in Bhopal district of Madhya Pradesh, India.
Muhammad Saad Kandhlawi is an Indian Muslim scholar and preacher. He is the great-grandson of the Tablighi Jamat founder Muhammad Ilyas Kandhlawi. He heads the Nizamuddin faction of the Tablighi Jamat.
The Jama Masjid Nerul or Nerul Aalami Markaz is a mosque located in Nerul, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It is the oldest, largest mosque in Nerul & one of the main mosques of Navi Mumbai. It serves as the headquarter for the shura faction of the Tablighi Jamaat and is led by scholars like Ahmad Laat and Ebrahim Dewla.