The architecture of the Fouta Djallon mosques is decidedly square in plan, based on the Kaʾba model as encouraged by the Maliki school of Islam followed throughout West Africa. The Friday Mosque in Dinguiraye, Guinea, is the largest and most spectacular example of this type. The plan uses triple entrances on the north, west and south sides. A mihrab niche on the east side indicating the qibla completes the composition.

A large central pillar, flanked by numerous smaller wooden posts dividing the interior floor plan into rows and aisles, supports the earthen ceiling. The central pillar supports above it a collection of wooden poles in the shape of an inverted umbrella radiating from and supporting a massive thatched domed roof that protects the earth cube below. Such a support system for the roof is not necessary in ordinary residential architecture due to the smaller covered space, but here it is necessary to prevent the rafters from tilting. The eaves extend to a circle of short wooden posts planted in a circular plane around the inner cube, masking the interior in deep, dark shadows.

The Dinguiraye mosque can therefore be characterized as a circular plan roof centred on the central pillar of a square plan building.

The original Dinguiraye mosque has been demolished and has been replaced by the Grand Mosque of Dinguiraye. Although the current building retains a round form as the original mosque (unlike other Guinea examples), it bears no real resemblance to the original with its two slender minarets, glass windows, and arched portico. The square interior in the original mosque that meant to reference the Ka’aba at Mecca has vanished.

Although having the colour of straws of the original one, the grand mosque of Dinguiraye gives a vague nod to the past through its rounded structure, yet it significantly departs from both the older building’s shape and its materials.