We had to don the official dress because I was wearing a skirt and Ari shorts lol So the black dress is called an abaya and the head scarf without covering the face is called a hijab. Ari's white clothing is called a thobe. I quite like some of the abayas I've seen, they are largely fashionable with coloured sleeves and embellishments, I'm looking forward to getting my own with lace details or similar...

Perhaps my talented emerging designer friend Cathleen Jia could design and create my abaya to custom specifications but I assume she is too busy with her new range :) Go girl!

Everything in the mosque is exquisitely hand crafted from marble and semiprecious stones by skilled artisans. The 9 tonne chandeliers were made in Germany incorporating millions of Swarovski crystals, the carpet from Iran, the marble from Macedonia and took 12 years to construct. The mosque also boasts one of the largest outdoor mosaic tile floor in the world.



Just prior to leaving the mosque we decided to join the end of a tour being held for tourists and our well connected tour guide managed to get us inside the main hall when the call to prayer was being held. The call to prayer is called adhan and it is a reminder to pray at the required times during the day. The unique thing about the grand mosque is they perform the call to prayer at this mosque only and distribute it all across Abu Dhabi, so they made everyone (except us) leave the main hall and we had to be very quiet! Generally, I believe the mosques do they're own individual adhan.