the mosque was jointly founded by the exiled prince muhammad hasan of afghanistan and his wife, princess razia and was financed by faisal of saudi arabia, head of the saudi royal family and custodian of the two holy mosques as well as by some other states of the muslim world, including bangladesh during the regime of president hussain muhammad ershad. the project was designed and directed by paolo portoghesi, vittorio gigliotti and sami mousawi.