Following his return to Baghdad, Makiya established Makiya & Associates, an architectural and planning consultancy, and later opened branch offices in Bahrain (1967); Muscat, Oman (1971) and London (1974).[15] His first important commission was for Khulafa Mosque (1960–63) for which he developed a design extracted from the 9th-century Abassid mosque that formerly stood on the same site, and built it around the surviving minaret. This mosque was situated in the same suburb as Makiya's place of birth.[16]