ISTANBUL // Almost everything about the Sakirin Mosque in Istanbul is different from other mosques in Turkey.

Its walls are almost completely made of glass. The mihrab, which in most Turkish mosques is a modest niche indicating the direction of Mecca, is a dramatic, rounded arch in blue and gold. The main element of the fountain in the middle of the courtyard is a sphere made of stainless steel, symbolising the universe. And the mosque’s main designer is a woman.

Although the Sakirin Mosque is not finished yet and will not be open to the public for at least three months, Zeynep Fadillioglu, an award-winning designer who made her name with the interiors of fancy bars, restaurants and private homes, has created a buzz with her interpretation of a modern place of worship. The fact that Ms Fadillioglu, 53, is the first woman in charge of the design of a Turkish mosque has sparked even more headlines about the project.

In a country where most mosques even today are variations of the classical designs of Sinan, the 16th-century Ottoman master architect, and where women have commissioned mosques before, but never built them, both the design and the designer of the Sakirin Mosque are a departure from the norm. The state institution overseeing Islam in the secular Turkish republic, the presidency of religious affairs, has recently signalled that it wants to strengthen the role of women by appointing them to leading religious posts, among other steps. But in everyday life, women are still mostly in the background when it comes to such projects as the Sakirin Mosque.

http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090129/PAGETHREE/854752895/1119/enewsletter