Qatar to build new mosques

Qatar is planning to spend QR446m ($122,430,000) to build new mosques and living quarters for imams, officials have said. The funds will be provided by donors and by the government through Ashghal, Qatari daily The Peninsula reported on Thursday. The ministry is spending QR42m ($11,530,000) for 12 projects, while QR154m ($42,274,000) will be provided by donors for 39 projects and the government/Ashghal is working on projects worth QR249m ($68,352,000). “More than 1400 mosques are now ready for the holy month of Ramadan,” Ali bin Radid Al Muhannadi, Managing Director of Mosque Department at the Ministry of Endowment and Islamic Affairs, said. “At least 25 out of 94 new proposed mosques are completed.” Ramadan, the lunar calendar-based holy month of Muslims during which they abstain from eating, drinking and sensual pleasures from sunrise until sunset, is expected to start on August 1 and end on August 29. The ministry has also done operational maintenance works in 652 mosques within Doha, and established prayer space for women in 259 mosques, officials said. Two major companies have been tasked with servicing for 165 mosques in the north and 79 mosques in the south regions of Qatar. “The construction section of the department has used international standards for the construction of mosques, though not conflicting with Qatari heritage,” Salah Bin Salim Al Bakri, from the ministry’s construction department, said. “Qatar Sustainability Assessment System (QSAS) was approved for mosque constructions so as to ensure the sustainability of the buildings, reduce water usage and also use solar energy to generate electricity,” he said. The new mosques in densely populated areas will have three storeys, will be equipped with lifts and escalators and will have more ablution rooms, Al Bakri said. From / Gulf News