The four architects behind an Adana mosque currently being built by the Turkish Religious Affairs Foundation are all women.

Construction on the new Ramazanoglu Mosque, which takes its name from the Ramazanoğlu Beylik, began in October 2006, with architects Hatice Yıldırım, Gül Aydın, Selma Uçar Dalgıntekin and Esen Saraç Ümit directing the project. This new mosque includes a nursing room for women, a separate ablution fountain, two elevators for the handicapped and the elderly, a reading room and bathrooms for taking showers.

Dalgıntekin, one of the project’s architects as well as a member of the city board of the Adana Religious Affairs Foundation, notes that mosques do not generally include special areas for women to pray. Underscoring that when such places exist they are generally just for show, Dalgıntekin said: “Women are not able to pray comfortably. There is nowhere for them to perform their ablution. There aren’t even cupboards for their children’s possessions. In the newly built mosques, there needs to be thought given to women, the handicapped and the elderly.” Dalgıntekin also notes that a separate entrance was designed at the Ramazanoğlu Mosque specifically for women, explaining: “Thinking of the women who will come here to pray, we designed a separate fountain, a larger prayer area, a children’s room and even bathrooms that include showers. And, not forgetting our elderly and our handicapped, we also designed two elevators. We placed special platforms and ramps for the handicapped in the mosque. In fact, this mosque will serve not only as a place for prayer but also for theater, conferences, shopping and Quran courses.”

The plot of land that the Ramazanoğlu Mosque sits on is 7,070 square meters, while the building itself takes up 3,500 square meters. Construction has yet to be completed as sufficient donations have not yet been received, but donations are being collected throughout Adana. There is a three-story basement under the mosque’s prayer floor, and in fact, the lowest floor of the basement has been set aside to be a 3,500-square-meter parking lot. And the top floors of this basement will be a shopping area filled with stores representing a variety of sectors. This floor will also boast separate men’s and women’s ablution fountains and bathrooms as well as separate places to shower.

A 1,000-square-meter salon has been set aside in this new mosque for social and cultural activities. The third floor of the basement also includes three lesson rooms specifically designed for Quran courses and a 500-meter area for the Çukurova Mufti’s Office. There are also reading rooms and a library on this floor. As for the land surrounding the mosque, children’s play areas are already being planned. When completed, this new mosque will be able to hold 3,000 people for prayers and up to 10,000 when the courtyard is used.

Religious Affairs Directorate Vice President Professor İzzet Er notes that the design of mosques in general needs to keep all segments of society in mind, as this recent example in Adana does. Noting that both men and women come to mosques to pray, Er says: “In our religion, women also want to pray as well as our brothers and sisters who may be handicapped. That being the case, we need to make sure we create the facilities for their needs. As the Religious Affairs Directorate, we support this mosque. We call on more mosques like this to be built.” Noting that he had already seen the ablutions areas designed for women at the new Adana mosque, Er said: “We thought about what women who came to the mosque and who wanted to do their ablution would do if their children were with them. So then areas for children were added to the design of these ablution areas.”

Source: http://www.todayszaman.com