Amr ibn al-Aas mosque
An ancient mosque in which you feel the greatness of Islamic history, when you set foot on its land, time returns to the era of the Islamic conquests, and you jump to your imagination the image of the great companion Amr bin Al-Aas when he conquered Egypt and cleansed it from the remnants of the Romans, in its square the hearts of Egyptians united, and with its corridors the choice of companions gathered, so the view was The religious university that transmitted Islam with all its brilliance and human civilization to Africa, and the Islamic University in which many of the thinkers of Islam graduated over the past eras, so that it remains over the course of time a symbol of the liberation of Egypt, and a witness to its history since it entered Islam until now. Al-Aas is the first Islamic building block in Cairo, the capital, and due to its historical role in the past and present, its great archaeological value, and its civilizational role in the walks of life in Egypt and in all fields, it has been given many names and titles, including the ancient mosque, the crown of mosques, the Al-Fath Mosque, the Nasr Mosque, the Mosque of Egypt and the pole of the sky of mosques. It was also the first Islamic university before Al-Azhar, Zaytuna and Kairouan. That is why many considered it the flower of pre-Al-Azhar, where students of knowledge received all sciences of the Arabic language and the true Islamic religion, which is the only Islamic influence that has remained since the Islamic conquest of Egypt. Among the most famous of his disciples are Imam al-Laith bin Saad, Imam al-Shafi’i, Mrs. Nafisa, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, and Sultan al-Ulema al-Ezz bin Abd al-Salam.
Originator: Amr Ibn Al-Aas
Creation Date: - 21 AH - 641 AD
Location: - Fustat, Cairo
History of the mosque: -
The first humble building:
The building of that mosque was a modest and simple building, as it did not initially have a hollow mihrab, nor a lighthouse, nor furniture or mat, but its area at the time of its construction was 50 cubits by 30 cubits covered with wood and palm fronds, and its columns were palm tree trunks, and its walls were Only three walls are bare from the inscriptions. As for the side of the Nile - which is the northern side - there was no wall in it, and it is said: The number of the Companions who gathered to establish a mihrab reached eighty men, and the road surrounded it on each side, and it had two doors on the sea side, and the same in On the western side, and two others from the south side, facing the house of Amr ibn al-Aas, the same prince.
It is also said that Amr ibn al-Aas took it as a platform for the sermon against him, so Caliph Umar, may God be pleased with him, denied that and wrote to him ordering him to break it, and violated him by saying: Is it not sufficient for you to stand up while the Muslims sit under your heels .. So Amr broke it in compliance with the order of Umar, may God be pleased with him. It was narrated that he brought it back after his death.
The Umayyad role: -
The interest of the princes and caliphs was focused at the beginning on expanding this mosque and adding to it with beautification and improvement, because it is the only mosque in which Friday is held there, which makes the worshipers in it always add to each addition, increase and expansion.
In the year 53 AH, during the caliphate of Muawiyah bin Abi Sufyan, the ruler of Egypt, Muslimah bin Mukhled, removed it and re-established it, after doubling the size of its area, making a brick wall for it, making an open dish for it, decorating its walls and ceilings, and establishing in its four sides lighthouses or silos for muezzins. He inscribed his name on it, and he ordered the mosque to be furnished with mats instead of gravel. It is said: Those minarets were the oldest minarets that were built in Islam, as the mosques did not yet have minarets high above the structure, and in the year 79 AH, Abdel Aziz bin Marawan, the governor of Egypt, expanded and renewed its construction ... and in the succession of Al-Walid bin Abdul Malik - who was famous With interest in architecture in general and mosques in particular - his governor in Egypt, Qara bin Sharik al-Absi, in 93 AH, demolished it under the order of Caliph Al-Walid, then rebuilt it again, while increasing its area.
Among his additions to it were: a hollow mihrab at the direction of the qibla, a beautiful wooden pulpit, and a maqsura (which is the designated place inside the prayer house for the prayer of the Emir and his entourage)
He baptized a Qurah into four columns towards the mihrab, and gilded its capitals with gold, and as a result of the clear expansion of the Amr Mosque - after the addition - he made it four gates on its east and west side, and three doors on its sea side.
Abbasid floor: -
The mosque of Amr ibn al-Aas received the attention of the Abbasid state. The governor of Egypt, Saleh bin Ali (who is the uncle of the Caliph Abu Jaafar al-Mansur) in the year 133 AH, increased a part of the mosque at the back, and repaired its façade, and his work was a completion of the work of Qarah bin Sharik.
Then in the year 175 AH - during the succession of Harun al-Rashid - Musa bin Issa, the Emir of Egypt from the maritime side, added to the mosque an adjacent yard known as the spaciousness of Abu Ayyub.
During the reign of Caliph Al-Ma'mun, Egypt took over Abdullah bin Taher, and he paid great attention to the mosque, so he ordered the expansion of the mosque by adding land equal to all of its previous area, so it was greatly increased from the tribal side, until the dimensions of the mosque reached 120 meters in length and 112.5 in width, meaning that its total area It amounted to approximately (15) thousand square meters. With this increase, the Mosque of Amr Ibn Al-Aas reached its maximum in terms of area.
Those interested today strive to preserve that vast area of this wonderful ancient mosque, and if its area did not exceed what Abdullah Taher al-Abbasi increased, then after that, years later, the Amr bin Al-Aas mosque in Egypt received great interest in renewal, improvement and decoration by a large number of princes and governors. And successors.
The Tulunids, the Akhchidians and the Fatimids: -
After the horrific fire that destroyed a large part of the mosque in the year 275 AH, Khimariyah bin Ahmed bin Tulun built his entire architecture in an elaborate and beautiful face.
Then, in the year 324 AH, Muhammad ibn Tanj al-Akhshaid entered the mosque with beautiful decorations, engraved most of the mosque’s columns, and surrounded them with shiny metal hoops.
And the cosmetic work in it continued to the point where it began to compete with the great mosques in the Islamic world at the time. At that time, the traveler Muhammad bin Ahmad al-Maqdisi al-Bashari described it after he visited it before the year 375 AH, saying: (It is well-built, and in its walls there is something mosaic on marble columns, larger than the Damascus Mosque, and it is the most ancient site in Egypt).
The Fatimids used to take care of this mosque. This ruler, by the command of God, gives the mosque well-written Qur’ans and many quarters, and makes a good architecture in it, and he gives it an enlightenment (that is, a huge chandelier) of silver, and this Al-Mustansir in God orders to coat the chest of the mihrab and the top of the two pillars on its sides with engraved silver With complete care of the mosque, the mosque witnessed early on the emergence of mihrabs and portable shrines. In 442 AH, I made for the imam a wooden shrine of teak wood engraved with two sandalwood columns. Summer days are placed in the courtyard of the mosque asking for the coolness of the open air, and it is raised in the winter where he prays inside the prayer house.
Historical testimonials: -
He admires the mosque of Amr bin Al-Aas in that general period, the famous traveler Nasir Khusraw when he visited it in 439 AH, including what he wrote on his journey about it, saying: (This ancient mosque is based on (400) marble columns, and the whole wall of the mihrab is covered with white marble, verses written on it The Qur’an is in a beautiful handwriting, illuminating it at night from the inside, an enlightenment gifted to it by the Caliph al-Hakim, by the command of God. It weighed seven columns of silver, in addition to more than 700 lamps, and the mosque was furnished with ten layers of colored mats on top of each other, and the traveler Nasir Khusraw added about him saying: It was from Old mosques with people and movement, and it is the meeting place for the residents of the big city, and those present in it - from morning to evening prayers - are no less than five thousand students of knowledge, strangers and writers who write sukuk, meaning that the Amr bin Al-Aas mosque was a pioneering scientific center in which sheikhs and professors gathered with students From all walks of life, strangers lead it to meet Egyptians looking for them, and in addition to that, it is an important location for many transactions, contracts and exchanges, which used to take place spontaneously between people through contracts and their notaries.
Deliberate disaster: -
In the year 564 AH, during the Crusade against Muslim countries, Muslims feared the occupation of the city of Fustat, in which the Mosque of Amr ibn al-Aas was located, so the weak minister consulted to set fire to it, because he was unable to defend it, so the city was burned, and the mosque of Amr bin Al-Aas was destroyed, and it was disheveled, after he The fire continued for 45 days, raging in Fustat and raging in it.
A second comeback: -
However, the hero of the liberation of Muslim countries from the Crusaders, Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi, began the stage of rebuilding the mosque again after that terrible catastrophe, repairing it a lot in 568 AH, rebuilding the chest of the mosque and the great spears, covering it with marble, and engraved good inscriptions on it, including his name, then continued its apparent restoration Baybars Qadari, the Mamluk leader in 666 AH, then after him came Mansur Qalawun and repaired it in 687 AH, and the same did Prince Salar in the year 703 AH. Likewise, the chief of merchants Burhan al-Din Ibrahim Omar and Sultan Qaytbay, and most of those restorations were made with plaster inscribed with wonderful cursive inscriptions. This gave the mosque a unique beauty and a wonderful outlook.
In the Ottoman era: -
In 1212 during the Ottoman era, Prince Murad Bey rebuilt the interior of the mosque after its demolition, following the fall of its iwan and the inclination of its pillars. However, those in charge of the construction were not at the level of the great work and the great task of such huge mosques, so the restoration of Murad Bey was irregular and inconsistent, but he built There are two minarets in the mosque, which are the rest until now, and the completion of the restoration of the mosque of Omar bin Al-Aas coincided with the last Friday of the month of Ramadan. In Ramadan, the prayer of princes and kings has been praying in this mosque since then, and Muhammad Ali Pasha repaired it, renewed its roof, and straightened its buildings in 1317 AH.
Some scholars and those interested in the Amr Ibn Al-Aas Mosque indicate that there was a court in it to settle religious and civil disputes, and its sessions were held on the western side of it, and the Amr mosque in Fustat used to contain the house of money, as he described the traveler's house Ibn Rusta That it was located in front of the pulpit in the form of a dome with iron doors. Some of these scholars believe that this treasury is not the main treasury of the state, but rather it is the treasury of orphans.
1- The History of Omar Bin Al-Aas - Hassan Ibrahim Hassan
2- Encyclopedia of Architecture, Archeology and Islamic Arts - Volume 4 - Page 10 - Hassan Al-Basha
3- The History of Amr Ibn Al-Aas - Page 138 - Hassan Ibrahim Hassan
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