ABU DHABI, 4th November, 2026 (WAM) -- To enhance the experience of the Light & Peace Museum, which extends Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre’s mission of introducing audiences to the depth of Islamic civilisation, the Centre organised a cultural workshop titled ‘Astrolabe’ for more than 20 female students from Al Zalaqa School in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The workshop is part of a series of initiatives and workshops that the Centre continues to organise in line with the museum’s objectives. The museum combines design, storytelling and rare artistic treasures to offer an inspiring and richly layered narrative experience, complemented by a curated selection of artefacts and exhibits from different periods of Islamic history, including an astrolabe dating to the 17th century.
The workshop aimed to pass this scientific heritage on to younger generations by introducing the students to the astrolabe as one of the most important astronomical instruments known and developed in Islamic civilisation. It featured a presentation covering what the instrument is and the Greek origin of its name, which literally means ‘star-taker’ or ‘star-measurer’, along with its history, significance, main parts and uses.
The workshop highlighted the pivotal role the astrolabe has played throughout history in observing celestial bodies before the invention of the telescope, helping sailors navigate and determine direction, and bringing astronomy closer to learners. It also addressed the qualitative leap the instrument made in the Islamic era, when it was specially developed to determine the five daily prayer times accurately and to find the direction of the Qibla from any location in the world. The students also learned about its main parts: the ring, the mater and limb, the rete (or ‘spider’), the plate and the alidade.
The workshop included a tour of the Light & Peace Museum, which offers a comprehensive overview of Islamic civilisation and its intellectual and artistic achievements across the ages, through rare artefacts and interactive experiences that draw on the latest technologies. Amid display cases that have safeguarded the astrolabe for centuries, and in a small drawing session in which the students sketched its paper version by hand for the first time, the distance between past and present felt closer than it usually does. Having made their own paper astrolabes in this artistic activity, the students concluded their visit with the interactive 360-degree Diya – A Universe of Light experience, which uses sound and light to convey the Mosque’s civilisational message in an innovative way.
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre is committed to strengthening its partnerships with academic and educational institutions and to organising activities of this kind, particularly for young people, in the belief that they play a role in consolidating cultural and civilisational identity among the younger generations. It also seeks to sustain its educational and knowledge-sharing mission in service of the Mosque’s civilisational message and the UAE’s vision of safeguarding humanity’s cultural heritage.
The Light & Peace Museum welcomes visitors daily from 9:00 am to 10:00 pm, taking them on an immersive, interactive journey through the treasures of Islamic civilisation, with advanced technologies and dedicated tours led by Cultural Tour Specialists. The experience unfolds across five main sections that take visitors on a journey of values, deepening their understanding of the essence of Islamic civilisation and its enduring human values through a sensory, interactive approach that combines knowledge with inspiration. Those wishing to visit can book online through the Centre’s official website: https://szgmc.gov.ae/en/museum-booking
The Light & Peace Museum is located within the Dome of Peace at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre, which houses an integrated cultural ecosystem comprising the specialised Al Jami’ Library, the Cultural Theatre, and Diya – A Universe of Light, a sensory, interactive experience with 360-degree projection.