Women’s Guide: Abu Dhabi Grand Mosque Etiquette

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque located in Abu Dhabi is a must-see when visiting the city and one of the top tourist attractions in the UAE. This largest mosque in the country is a key place of worship and prayer for visiting Muslims and those visiting must show respect by adhering to certain dress codes. For women, this is one of the few main tourist locations in the UAE that enforce these strict policies. Here’s everything you need to know when visiting Abu Dhabi’s Grand Mosque as a woman.

The Basics

For women visiting the mosque, here is what needs to be covered:

• Shoulders and arms down to your wrist
• Legs including your ankles
• Hair needs to be covered

What To Wear

You don’t need to purchase a traditional abaya to be in compliance with the women’s dress code, but you will need to keep a few things in mind:

• Given the need to cover your legs and ankles, long dresses work great. If your dress has a slit in it, though, you will need to pin this closed so you don’t expose your legs when walking.
• Pants can be a great option, just make sure they are full length and covering your ankles. We saw some women who had pants that were a bit shorter and had to put a dress over to fully cover up.
• A long wide scarf is perfect for wrapping around your hair.
• Sandals are fine to wear for both women & men.

What To Expect During Your Visit

• When you first arrive, you do not need to be in dress code compliance yet. You will go through an underground mall first before reaching the security area. Here, you will need to prep to go through security.
• Security WILL look at your clothing to check for your ankles being exposed, hair, etc. There are women positioned here whose job is to check each visitor.
• While in the mosque, security does keep an eye on wardrobe and may politely ask you to fix something that may not be in compliance. For example, sometimes the scarf over your hair shifts back exposing more of your hair – they may ask you to adjust your scarf.
• If taking a picture with your significant other, our guide did tell us we shouldn’t put our arms around each other’s back. As a general rule, avoid major physical contact when taking photos.
• After your visit to the mosque, you will return back to the same underground mall area where you are ok to remove your scarf/robe or any extra apparel you added.

Buying An Abaya

When visiting Abu Dhabi’s Grand Mosque as a woman, a traditional abaya is a great way to get some iconic photographs while also ensuring that you’re within dress code compliance. Here are couple tips for buying an abaya:

• If visiting from Dubai, the old town markets (souks) are a great place to pick up an abaya. We had fun exploring the souks and seeing all the varieties of abayas available.
• The entrance to the mosque goes through an underground mall where there are many shops along the way. This is a great option for a last minute abaya purchase prior to entering, just note that prices may be higher here.
• Make sure to check the sleeve length of the abaya you’re buying. Many are shorter lengths meant for fashion and tourists and will not meet the requirements of the mosque. If you tell the shop owner that you are purchasing an abaya to visit a mosque, they will show you which ones they are offering which will work.

Visiting With A Tour Group

While all tours are different, many do have robes and scarfs available for women to borrow that are included with your tour – make sure to check ahead with your tour company if this is not specifically stated in the details. Your tour guide will be very familiar with the dress policies and will check you over prior to getting to security to make sure there are no issues. These guides also do a great job preparing you for what to expect in the mosque.

Because we were staying in Dubai we chose a tour that offered transportation to and from our hotel. This tour included a visit to the Grand Mosque, the Presidential Palace and the Ethiad Towers. We really enjoyed our tour and would highly recommend it:

For more travel inspiration, check out our additional blog posts on international travel.