Al-Azhar Mosque

About Al-Azhar Mosque

Mosque in Islamic Cairo, Egypt

Al-Azhar Mosque is Egypt's most important mosque and one of the most celebrated historic mosques of the Islamic world, forming part of the Al-Azhar al-Sharif institution. Its construction began in 970 CE under the general Jawhar al-Siqilli as the Fatimid caliphate founded Cairo as its new capital; the first Friday prayer was held in 972, making it the first mosque of the city later nicknamed "the City of a Thousand Minarets". It is the oldest surviving Fatimid monument in Egypt, and its name is usually thought to derive from az-Zahra, a title of Fatima, the Prophet's daughter. Teaching began almost at once: the first lesson was given in 975, and in 988 the mosque authorities appointed thirty-five salaried scholars and built lodgings for them next door, which is why al-Azhar is regarded as the second-oldest continuously operating university in the world after al-Qarawiyyin in Fes. Shunned for a time under the Sunni Ayyubids, it regained its standing under the Mamluks and Ottomans and became the foremost centre for the study of Sunni theology and sharia; the university was formally made an independent institution in 1961. Centuries of restoration and expansion mean the Fatimid mihrab, Mamluk minarets and Ottoman arcades stand side by side. Attending Friday prayer here, or simply walking its courtyard, remains one of the defining experiences of historic Cairo, especially combined with nearby Khan el-Khalili and the al-Hussein Mosque across the road.

Where:

Cairo, Egypt