Jama Masjid

Jama Masjid (also spelled Jame Mosque, Jami Masjid, Jameh Mosque, Jamia Masjid or Jomeh Mosque) refers to the main mosque of a town, city or village, and is usually the place of gathering for Eid prayers and Friday prayers. These are sometimes called Congregational mosques or Friday mosques. Many places come to be known as a Jama Masjid as a proper name. These structures are listed below.

Language and etymology

The term Jama Masjid means “Mosque of Assembly” or “Congregational Mosque” and comes from Arabic, Arabic: مسجد الجمعة ‎. Although the word "Jama" means assembly or congregation, it has been conflated with the word for Friday, the primary day of worship in Islam, and hence, originally incorrectly, but still sometimes these are called Friday Mosques, after the Jumu'ah or weekly Friday noon congregation prayers of Muslims.

In Persian, the term is Persian: مسجد جامع‎‎ masjed(-e) jāme. Jameh (جامع) stems from the root word jám (جمع) meaning "gathering", as opposed to Jom'ah (جمعه) meaning "Friday".

Jama Masjid, Delhi

The Masjid-i Jahān-Numā (Persian: مسجد-ا جہاں نما, Devanagari: मस्जिद जहान नुमा, the 'World-reflecting Mosque'), commonly known as the Jama Masjid (Hindi: जामा मस्जिद, Urdu: جامع مسجد) of Delhi, is one of the largest mosques in India.

It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan between 1644 and 1656 at a cost of 1 million rupees, and was inaugurated by an imam from Bukhara, present-day Uzbekistan. The mosque was completed in 1656 AD with three great gates, four towers and two 40 m high minarets constructed of strips of red sandstone and white marble. The courtyard can accommodate more than 25,000 persons. There are three domes on the terrace which are surrounded by the two minarets. On the floor, a total of 899 black borders are marked for worshippers. The architectural plan of Badshahi Masjid, built by Shah Jahan's son Aurangzeb at Lahore, Pakistan, is similar to the Jama Masjid.

The mosque has been the site of two attacks, one in 2006 and another in 2010. During the first, two explosions occurred in the mosque, injuring thirteen people. In the second, two Taiwanese students were injured as two gunmen opened fire upon them.

Jama Masjid, Agra

Jama Masjid in Agra is opposite the Agra fort and overlooking the Agra Fort Railway Station. The Jama Masjid is also popularly known as the Jami Masjid or "Friday Mosque". It is one of the largest mosques in India.

External links

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