Umrah 2010 - Masjid Nabawi

Umrah 2010 - Madinah

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Shah Alam Mosque

The Shah Alam Mosque or Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Mosque was commissioned by the late Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz when he declared Shah Alam as the new capital of Selangor on February 14, 1974 and was built between 1982 and 1988. The construction was completed in March 11, 1988.

Shah Alam Mosque

The mosque is also known as the Blue Mosque owing to its blue dome which is one of the largest in the whole world. The structure of the mosque incorporates Malay and Islamic. The main dome of the mosque is one of the biggest domes in the world, measuring 170 feet in diameter and 350 feet in height from the ground level. The dome's outer surface is clad with vitreous enamel-baked triangular steel panel. The four minarets are the second tallest in the world at 460 feet. In its early years, the mosque was also listed in the Guinness World Records as having the tallest minaret in the world, a title it had lost to the King Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca. Shah Alam Mosque is one of the most famous landmarks in Shah Alam and it’s large enough that on clear day it can be seen from certain vantage points in Kuala Lumpur. It can accommodate 24,000 worshippers at any one time.

The two levels main prayer hall is fully carpeted and air conditioned with the upper gallery reserved for women worshippers. The structure incorporates elements of Malay and Islamic architecture. Fine decorative khat or Arabic calligraphy can be seen on the inner curve of the dome and parts of the walls. The calligraphy work was done by Egyptian calligrapher Shiekh Abdel Moneim Mohamed Ali El Sharkawi.

Aluminium grills design can be found on the doorways, windows and walls of the mosque. The windows have stained glass that reduce the amount of light that can go through the hall. The high ceiling has triangular panels of red balau and ramin timber wood that are set in criss cross manner.

Town of Roundabouts

Shah Alam can be called as Town of Roundabouts. It is simply because Shah Alam has 18 roundabouts connecting its arteries. The roundabouts are spread throughout the city, connecting major road arteries from Section 1 to 25.

They are Bulatan Damai (Section 1,7), Mestika (junction Section 3,4,6,7), Sejahtera (Section 15), Setia Jasa (bordering Section 4,5,10), Selangor (Section 15), Kemajuan (Section 16), Jubli Perak (Section 18,19,23 and 24), Budiman (Section 25), Stadium (Section 13), Bistari (Section 1,2,3), Permai (Section 2,3,4,14), Darul Ehsan (from the Federal Highway heading to city centre, (Section 14, 15), Perusahaan (bordering Section 15 and 16), Andalas (Section 17, 18 and 24), Melawati (above Federal Highway towards Istana Kayangan), Kayangan (Section 11, 12,13), Megawati (Section 20,21,22,23) and Aman (Section 25).

Bulatan Permai

They differ in sizes and are designed to accommodate local traffic. The biggest are the Bulatan Kayangan, located near Istana Kayangan or the Bulatan Setia Jasa near the state mosque while smaller ones include the roundabout near the Wisma MBSA and the Selangor Umno building.

In its early stages in the 1970s, traffic lights were unheard off in Shah Alam and roundabouts were seen as the best solution for traffic dispersal in the planned township.

At the same time, signal systems were expensive to install and maintain and could result in an expensive energy bill, as the signals are required to operate continuously.

Roundabouts reduce waiting periods and maximise the number of vehicles using the junctions however, at the same time, roundabouts are only a temporary measure of traffic dispersal at junctions, as they do not work well in areas with high traffic volume.

The roundabouts were no longer suitable if motorists had to wait more than 20 miniutes, which indicated a high traffic volume. In this case the alternative traffic dispersal methods should be used. These included replacing the roundabouts with traffic lights or, in some cases, with flyovers.

Although installing traffic lights and constructing flyovers involve high costs, they provide solutions to traffic congestion if the roundabouts were deemed unsuitable.

As a result Bulatan Kayangan has a traffic light system to resolve this issue.
The Bulatan Selangor, Setia Jasa and Megawati have flyovers which allow traffic to bypass the roundabouts.

A well-designed roundabout requires motorists to slow down when negotiating the roadway. Because of this, roundabouts can serve as a method to alert road users that they are transitioning from one road environment to another.
The roundabouts usually did not use traffic signals to control the entry and exit and did not require a constant power supply.

This means that a roundabout can continue to function during power failures.
Also roundabouts do not require the installation or maintenance of the traffic detection devices associated with traffic signals.