{"id":306920,"date":"2022-02-10T15:28:25","date_gmt":"2022-02-10T18:28:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/?p=306920"},"modified":"2022-02-11T17:17:12","modified_gmt":"2022-02-11T20:17:12","slug":"mosque-receives-half-ton-egyptian-crystal-chandelier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/mosque-receives-half-ton-egyptian-crystal-chandelier\/","title":{"rendered":"Mosque receives half-ton Egyptian crystal chandelier"},"content":{"rendered":"

S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 The Miseric\u00f3rdia Mosque<\/strong> in S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil, has received earlier this week a half-ton chandelier with 150,000 Egyptian crystals<\/strong>. The huge piece was designed by Egyptian civil engineer Mohammed Darwich, who lives in Brazil and sells Egypt\u2019s Asfour<\/strong> chandeliers. The chandelier was donated by the businessman.<\/p>\n

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The installation was laborious<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The giant piece is shaped like the Arabic word for Allah<\/strong>, which is how Muslims call God, and seems to be floating overhead at approximately 15 meters from the floor. Embellished by thousands of tiny 14-mm crystals, it was painted gold and features 200 interior lamps.<\/p>\n

Designed by Darwich, the piece began to be made around eight months ago. The crystals came from Egypt, but the other materials and assemblage were by Darwich\u2019s Brazil-based firm Crystal Star<\/a>, which owns d\u00e9cor stores in Brazil. \u201cIt represents the centuries-old Brazil-Egypt relation,\u201d he told ANBA, explaining that it featured both Brazilian and Egyptian materials and labor.<\/p>\n

The chandelier was handmade, each crystal put individually, in a process that took around one month and a half of work. The assembling process had to be done in the mosque itself, in a large engineering effort. The installation took around a week and involved twenty professionals, according to Darwich. \u201cIt was a giant operation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For the mosque<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Egyptian says the history of the chandelier started three years ago, when the community of the Miseric\u00f3rdia Mosque, which he attends, mentioned they were planning on substituting its old chandelier. Darwich volunteered to create a piece that the community could relate to, that would please everyone and was made from a noble material.<\/p>\n

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Darwich: God helped me a lot<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The engineer explains that the Egyptian crystal is associated with long-lastingness and nobleness. \u201cIt\u2019s a jewel, a life-long sparkle,\u201d he said. The word Allah was thought of to refer to the soul and the spirit. \u201cWe look at it and remember we\u2019re in the house of God; it fits this spiritual environment,\u201d Darwich explains.<\/p>\n

The Egyptian gets emotional when talking about his donation. \u201cGod has helped me a lot in Brazil,\u201d he said. Mohamed Darwich worked as a tourism service provider in Egypt, whose earnings paid for his college, and he moved to Brazil in 2012, with almost no resources, but with a large entrepreneurial desire. He created the tourism agency EGP Viagens and started a chandelier and crystal business, standing out among the Arab entrepreneurs in Brazil.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s more on this:<\/em><\/p>\n