Cotabato City : Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Masjid

The Grand Mosque of Cotabato City

Be it a Muslim or a Christian, we all want peace in Mindanao. And no structure symbolizes peace better than the glittering Grand Mosque, also known as Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Masjid, Muslim center of worship. The Grand Mosque is located in the seaside village of Inawan. It is a five-hectare cultural complex that can accommodate 15,000 worshipers and was funded by the Sultan of Brunei whom the mosque was named in 2008 for a reported cost of $48M.

To get to this place, find your way to the highway fronting the Husky Terminal. Then, hire a habal-habal in a motorbike terminal located just few steps from the highway. The trip would be along a 5km well-paved road with lots of rice fields on both sides of the road. It will take you around twenty minutes to reach the Grand Mosque. 

Upon reaching the Grand Mosque, take time to not only have photos by the front but actually go around the periphery. Discover beautiful mihrab around the mosque and be amazed also with its domes and minarets. The mosque has four minarets rising 40 meters high. Inside, there are two prayer rooms, for men and women, separated by an eight-meter-high partition. The prayer rooms are flanked by courtyards. Here are some photos I have taken of the place:

Stare at the stairs

Dome and Minaret

Masjid

The Grand Mosque's Facade

Mihrab and Minaret

Sea at the back of the Mosque

Lawstude Selfie

The Grand Mosque is a gift to the Filipino people. It is a gift to the Muslims of Mindanao for them to have a place of worship. It is also a gift to Christians alike so they have a place to go to when they visit Cotabato City. It is a gift for peace that every Filipino should be proud of.