During his visit to the war torn city of Sarajevo in March 1995 and paid a courtesy call to Bosnian President Alija Izetbegović, Indonesian President Suharto contemplating an idea to build a mosque in the city as a gift for the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Suharto mobilized his administrations to realize his idea, and appointing Fauzan Noe’man, one of Indonesia's foremost architect to design the mosque and proceed with the project. Noe'man was known for his works in constructing grand mosque of Batam, Baiturrahim mosque in Merdeka Palace complex, and also At-Tin mosque (1999) in East Jakarta near Taman Mini Indonesia Indah. The project is started in 1995, however because the turmoil in Indonesia led to the fall of Suharto in 1998 has stalled the construction process.