The mosque was conceived as the central grand mosque of the new capital. Zaheer ud Deen Khawaja designed it, a name spelled Zahir ud Deen Khwaja in the infobox. President Ayub Khan laid the foundation stone in October 1964, and Capital Development Authority records give completion as May 1966. The article names no formal client.
It has one dome and two minarets and holds 15,000 worshippers. The article calls the style a blend of Ottoman and Mughal, with the exterior drawing on the Jama Masjid in Delhi and the Badshahi Mosque, and the minarets and courtyard on the Süleymaniye Mosque. The infobox lists red sandstone and marble, but the text says the original build used small yellow bricks, later covered in cement and painted red.
The mosque was damaged in 2007 and repaired. Nayyar Ali Dada oversaw a renovation in 2009 and 2010. It stands in the Red Zone of Islamabad and reopened to the public after the repairs.
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