A rich suburb, Enfa is an upper class residential district, with few public or community buildings. Individual villas with extensive landscaping form the dominant type of housing; a few condominiums or town houses are now developing along the east side of Enfa, linking its environment to the more public character of Casablanca. The idea of the project is rooted in the custom of Saudi Royalty to build small mosques which attached to their residences wherever they live.

A small mosque of a capacity of 400 faithful was originally built attached to the Prince's summer residence, established in Enfa 1979. An overflow of use of the first mosque led the Prince to build a much larger mosque of a capacity of 5000 worshippers attached to the old mosque. The idea of a religious and cultural complex was introduced by the architect and accepted by the client, and then developed by specialists into a program for an educational, research and religious center focusing on the human sciences in Islam. Housing and community facilities were introduced to generate income and to maintain the facility.

Source: Aga Khan Trust for Culture