Fujairah History: Al Bidya Mosque

July 6, 2022

Less than a minute

Bidiyah Mosque is one of the oldest mosque in the UAE. Oficially called Al Masjid Al Othmani, it is thought to date back 600 years to the middle of the 15th century, having been built in the year 20 Hijra in the Islamic calendar.Fujairah. Dibba. Al Bidiyah. DIbba. Fujairah Observer. Fujairah Heritage. UAE heritage.UAE mosques. UAE history. UAE architecture. — Photo: Tania Rodrigues

Al Bidya Mosque is one of the oldest mosque in the UAE.

Al-Bidya Mosque (Arabic: مَسْجِد ٱلْبِدْيَة, romanized: Masjid Al-Bidyah, sometimes transliterated as Al-Bidiyah (ٱلْبِدِيَة) or Al-Badiyah (ٱلْبَدِيَة)) is a historical mosque in the Emirate of Fujairah, the United Arab Emirates.

It was the oldest known mosque in the country, prior to the discovery in September 2018 of the ruins of a 1000-year-old mosque dating back to the Islamic Golden Age, near the Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Mosque in the city of Al Ain, Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

Still in use, it is located in the small village of Al-Badiyah or Al-Bidiyah, about 40 km (25 mi) north of the Emirate’s capital city, and is also known as the “Ottoman Mosque”.

The small building made from gypsum, stone and mud-bricks, is surrounded by a 1.5m wall and is still used for prayer. It has been renovated, and is now painted a slightly different shade than its original white, and there has been the addition of some facilities next to the mosque, including toilets.

The village of Bidiyah itself is one of the oldest settlements on the coast having been inhabited, it is believed, since 3000BC. It is a good place for a walk around in the area behind the mosque, with good views from the watchtowers on top of the hills behind the mosque over the green plantations.