In the late 1990s, amidst rising poverty and with millions of his citizens on the verge of famine, the former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein decided to spend hundreds of million dollars on three grandiose projects in a bid to bolster his Islamic credentials and preserve his tyrannical legacy. Only one was completed. The Umm al-Ma'arik mosque —Umm al-Ma'arik meaning “Mother of All Battles"— was designed to commemorate the First Gulf War of 1991-92, and at the same time, serve as a personal tribute to Saddam himself.
The huge blue-and-white mosque was finished in 2001. Just in time for the ten-year anniversary of the Gulf War and Saddam Hussein’s triumph. Following the fall of Saddam Hussein, in the aftermath of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the mosque was taken over by Sunni Muslims and renamed Umm al-Qura ("Mother of All Cities”) mosque.
Saddam’s other two mosques couldn’t be completed on time. One of these mosques, the “Great Saddam Mosque”, was supposed to be the third biggest in the world after those of Mecca and Medina. It would have been a replica of the Umm al-Ma'arik mosque, but five times larger. The third and the last of Saddam’s follies is the Al-Rahman mosque, meaning “The Most Merciful” mosque. Located near the old racecourse, this massive mosque has an uncompleted central dome still open to the sky.
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