Mosque of Amr ibn al-As

About Mosque of Amr ibn al-As

Mosque in Egypt

The Mosque of Amr ibn al-As, also known as the Mosque of the Conquest, the Old Mosque and the Crown of Mosques, was the first mosque built in Egypt and one of the first in Africa. The companion of the Prophet and commander Amr ibn al-As founded it around 642 CE on the site of his tent as the centre of Fustat, the newly established first Islamic capital of Egypt. At its founding it measured fifty by thirty cubits and had six doors; Maslama ibn Mukhallad enlarged it in 672 and added four minarets, and successive rulers kept expanding it until it reached its present size of about 120 by 110 metres. For six centuries the mosque was an important centre of Islamic learning, with teaching circles held on a voluntary basis, until that role passed to Al-Azhar. When the vizier Shawar burned Fustat in 1168 to keep it from the Crusaders the mosque was ruined, and Salah al-Din ordered it rebuilt in 1172, with a new marble-clad great mihrab. Because of repeated reconstruction nothing of the original building survives, and most of what stands today dates from the 18th century or later, yet it remains a prominent landmark of Old Cairo. The mosque is in active use, with a wide courtyard surrounded by arcades of marble columns; it fills with worshippers during Ramadan, especially on the night of the 27th, and stands beside the Babylon Fortress and the Coptic churches of Old Cairo.

Where:

Cairo, Egypt