Al-Mujadilah Center and Mosque for Women 

Conceived by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation, Al-Mujadilah Center and Mosque for Women has opened as the first purpose-built contemporary women’s mosque in the Muslim world.

Created to foster a more inclusive Muslim society where women can contribute to shaping contemporary Islamic thought and discourse, Al-Mujadilah is situated in Education City, a 12-square-kilometre campus in Doha comprised of educational and research institutes.

Al-Mujadilah, which means “she who engages in dialogue,” provides a dedicated space for women to connect, learn and practice their faith together—guided by the Islamic principles of ikhlas (sincerity), and khidma (service) and ilm (knowledge). Serving as a religious, social and educational center, Al-Mujadilah includes a specialized research library of Islamic texts.

Dr. Sohaira Siddiqui, Executive Director of Al-Mujadilah and Associate Professor of Islamic Studies at Georgetown University, commented, “The very heart of Al-Mujadilah is that we are a center for women. We have quickly become a destination for Muslim women from all backgrounds and walks of life to access a wide range of programs and activities designed to help navigate the many complex aspects of modern life. Emblematic of this is our annual summit, Jadal, a 3-day research gathering that brings together scholars, researchers and practitioners from around the world to discuss and examine the history of Muslim women in public life, current challenges and future prospects.”

Drawing on the mosque’s historical role in supporting the religious, educational and civic needs of the community, Al-Mujadilah has been envisioned by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser to be responsive to various needs of women that change throughout the day, week, and year, as realized in a design by Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

Elizabeth Diller spoke to the architecture of the project, stating, “Al-Mujadilah challenged us to design our first house of worship: how to interpret a traditional architectural typology through a contemporary lens? The mosque’s role of seamlessly bringing together worship and study under one roof led to the building’s distinguishing architectural feature. Its undulating roof arches to shape a grand space for prayer at one end and morphs downward into a slung surface that shelters an intimate space for education at the other. The roof harvests diffuse, sublime daylight from a field of light wells while minimizing heat gain from Doha’s strong sun. The design was also inspired by Islamic art and architecture in which abstraction serves to represent the transcendent nature of the divine. As a woman, the project was a special opportunity for me to design a space exclusively for women that is flexible and responsive to real-time, everyday needs.”

The 50,000-square-foot (4,600 m2) building features a prayer hall, classrooms, open-air courtyard and multi-purpose spaces. Its signature roof admits and controls light in the main hall. It flattens and extends beyond the building’s footprint to provide shade for exterior spaces and peripheral programs. A field of more than five thousand light wells embedded in the roof slab modulate the abundant natural light to provide a soft, diffuse luminosity in the main hall.

The main hall is rotated 17 degrees off axis to point the Qibla wall toward Mecca for prayer. In the Islamic tradition of mosques constructed in harmony with nature, Al-Mujadilah is centered around two olive trees that pierce through the roof and reach toward the sky.

Other design details include:

–       Prayer Hall: As Al-Mujadilah’s main space for worship, the 9,400-square-foot (875 m2) prayer hall features an undulating Qibla wall, of which the asymmetrical curvature forms two key focal points: the mihrab (the niche indicating the direction of prayer towards Mecca) and the minbar (the platform used by the Imam to deliver the Friday sermon). At the mihrab curvature, a skylight bathes the niche in natural light during the day, clearly identifying it as the primary architectural and religious focal point of the space. DS+R’s design for the custom 115 foot by 66 foot (35 m by 20 m) carpet scaled a traditional prayer rug from the typical size for a single worshipper to cover the collective space of up to 750 worshippers in the prayer hall. Made of hand-tufted New Zealand wool, the pattern was recontextualized with a process of pixelation and shifting in intervals of each prayer row. The carpet’s central mihrab figure further reinforces the Qibla.

–       Ablution: Continuing in the theme of integrating the space with nature, Al-Mujadilah’s ablution space is open and airy, with views to a private garden. The space distinguishes itself with dark gray volcanic stone of varying finishes a smooth, honed finish where water is delivered and a more textured, flamed finish on the floor for slip-resistance.

–       Library: The prayer hall and multi-purpose space are lined by a curated library of Islamic texts that encourages research and study. With a capacity of more than 8,000 volumes, the extensive collection covers Islamic history, the history of women, and fiction and nonfiction books by Muslim female authors.

–       Multi-Purpose Space: Equipped with a retractable stage, modular furniture and temporary walls, this flexible space supports Al-Mujadilah’s educational program with the ability to host lectures, talks, classes, and workshops. During Ramadan, an extension of the prayer hall carpet is laid down in this space to increase the capacity of worshippers from 750 to approximately 1,300.

–       Classrooms: Classrooms with capacity for 15-30 people flank the multi-purpose space to support the Center’s educational program. All classrooms have full height glass with lush planting directly adjacent and views to the larger garden beyond, reinforcing the connection between interior and exterior. They are set up to encourage debate among students and exchange with instructors.

–       Gardens: The landscape design reinterprets a well-known local phenomenon: the oasis. A ring of dunes surrounds Al-Mujadilah, sheltering an inner sanctum of lush vegetation. The dunes affect a visual and acoustic separation from the nearby highway and roads, enveloping the gardens in a private horizon. The site’s arid periphery gives way to a lush landscape at its center, punctuated by shady bosques of trees alternating with areas of low-growing vegetation, providing an uncanny contrast between untamed, windswept dunes and domesticated gardens.

–       Minaret: Embedded in an area carved from the dune near the southern entrance is a minaret conceived for this unique building. Traditionally, a muezzin would climb up the minaret to deliver the call to prayer five times each day. From the height of the elevated balcony, his voice would broadcast the call to the entire community. Over time, however, muezzins were replaced by electronic amplification and a recorded message. The Al-Mujadilah minaret reinterprets the ritual of human ascent up the tower. Instead of a muezzin, a cluster of electronic speakers “climbs” 128 feet (39 m) to the top of a diaphanous steel-mesh tower five times daily. From the summit, the call to prayer is broadcast to the surrounding community. Afterward, the speakers descend back down to the garden. The tower is suspended in the air by cable stays that are anchored to a retaining wall. The tensegrity structure features a screen with a custom perforated pattern that recalls a mashrabiya, an element found in traditional Islamic architecture.

The building was designed to achieve LEED Gold and GSAS 4-star rating. Several features of the design contribute to these sustainability targets, including the roof shading, the use of over 90% native plant species, recycled water for irrigation, low flush toilets, and low energy-use light fixtures and equipment.