Mosque of Amr ibn al-Aas in Damietta

Mosque of Amr ibn al-Aas in Damietta

Mosque of Amr ibn al-Aas in Damietta

 The originator Amr bin Al-Aas Fatih Egypt

 Location: - Damietta City

 Date of construction: - 21 AH

 History of the mosque: -

 The Mosque of Amr Ibn Al-Aas in Damietta is the second mosque built in Egypt. It was built by the Muslims after the conquest of Medina in the year 21 AH, in the style of the Mosque of Amr bin Al-Aas in Fustat, Old Cairo.  That is why it was also known as the Al-Fateh Mosque in relation to the Arab conquest, and it was built by the great companion Al-Miqdad bin Al-Aswad in the era of Amr bin Al-Aas, and it is one of the most famous and oldest mosques of Lower Egypt and Damietta, and the mosque has Kufic writings and columns dating back to the Roman era, and the mosque was listed among the Islamic monuments in Damietta  Under the name “Abu al-Maati Mosque” (Amr ibn al-Aas Mosque), and a historian as it was mentioned in the Directory of Islamic Antiquities recorded in the Arab Republic of Egypt issued by the Islamic Antiquities Sector in the year 521 AH / 1127 CE. The evidence stated that the founder of the mosque was the Fatimid Caliph who commanded the provisions of God on the grounds that the mosque  The current one was built during his reign. As for the decision to register the mosque, it is Ministerial Resolution No. 10357 of 1951 AD {1}.

 This mosque is located - and still is - Amr bin Al-Aas Mosque in the Great Cemetery in Damietta, and the mosque was located in the far east of the city before the vandalism near the old cemetery that was located to the east, but after the destruction of the city, the urban mass that surrounded the mosque from the north was transformed  And the west to the hills of Khirbet used for burial in the Mamluk and Ottoman periods, in addition to the presence of graves actually to the east of the mosque, so it became located southeast of that cemetery on the outskirts of Medina throughout the two ages referred to {2}.

 Architectural description: -

 The mosque is one of the largest mosques, as it is the largest mosque in Damietta in terms of area, with an area of ​​nearly an acre;  It has lengths of 54 mx 60 m, and its total area is estimated at 3240 m 2, apart from the area of ​​the two corners and some additions.  The mosque contains four free facades currently after modern restoration works, all of which are built of bricks, the western façade, which contains the main entrance, is preceded by a shed, and today it overlooks a street that extends inside the cemetery branching from the Al-Abd neighborhood that was built by the Arab Antiquities Preservation Committee after removing the graves  Which used to extend its length, while the southern façade overlooked a main street, and in its center was the southern entrance leading to the cut-off junction, and the eastern façade overlooked the Mausoleum of Abu al-Maati Street, and this façade did not extend straight, and the southern façade overlooked the cemetery.

 The mosque's layout has become according to the traditional model of mosques.  It consists of a rectangular, exposed, middle courtyard surrounded by arcades on four sides, the most important of which is the southern portico, which is the qibla hallway, which includes four naves, while the eastern and western corridors contain two tiles, and the northern portico currently contains two tiles, near the main western entrance.  In front of it is a shed, there is the minaret of the mosque, and the walls of the mosque were constructed so that the four original sides face a full face.  Therefore, his kiss came in a strange situation in the southeastern corner of the incident from the meeting point of the south and eastern sides of this mosque, which is a rare occurrence {3}.

 The history of the building of the Amr Ibn Al-Aas Mosque in Damietta: -

 The Abi El-Maati Mosque, Amr Ibn Al-Aas Mosque, or Fateh Mosque is the most famous mosque in Damietta, the oldest and most mentioned in the history books, and many claim that it was built at the time of the Arab conquest of Egypt in the first century AH seventh century AD {4}.

 And he referred to this al-Maqrizi mosque in his plans and said: “Damietta is a mosque for the sake of Muslim mosques. The public calls it the Fatah Mosque, and it is the mosque that the Muslims founded at the conquest of Damietta {5}.

 Then the building of the mosque was renewed throughout the ages by demolishing, expanding and increasing it, as happened to “Amr bin Al-Aas Mosque” in Fustat, and the hand of repair and restoration worked in it about twenty times, until nothing remained of its original shape {6}, when the Byzantines attacked the city on the 9th of Dhu.  Al-Hajjah in year 238 AH / May 22, 853AD They set fire to it and burned the mosque.  Certainly, the mosque was built when the Caliph al-Mutawakkil ordered the construction of Damietta Fort in the following year, and the area of ​​the mosque after this architecture was rectangular in shape of 56 m in length and 45 m in width, and most likely it consisted of the southeast portico (the iwan of the qibla), and two side arcades, with  The absence of a corridor facing the qibla iwan, and the mosque had six gates, three in the eastern wall and three in the western wall, as for the height of the mosque’s walls and its bow (7), it was less high.  Than it is now, and this is evident from the height of the windows {8}.

 The Fatimid era is the golden age of Damietta.  As the city grew and prospered, and this was evident in its architecture and its most important features, for example in its mosque, which we are about to talk about, and it is considered the most important building and renovation of the mosque in this era was by the Fatimid caliph who commanded the rulings of God, which took place in the month of Rajab in the year 521 AH / July -  August 1127 AD, and the memorial text that was installed above the entrance on the western façade was left of it, and Al-Maqrizi pointed to an inscription on the door of the mosque in Kufic script stating that the mosque is aged five hundred years after the migration, and that there are those who baptized the marble that there is a likelihood of it {9}.

 Also, window openings with Fatimid arches remain in the architecture of this era, and some of the arches of Fatimid style arches remain, and a fourth hallway was added to the mosque opposite to the qibla portico on the northern side, consisting of two aisles, and a cross-cutting passage was added that cuts through your sockets and the tiles of the qibla corridor, and this metaphor  More spacious {10}, and it is mentioned that the cisterns located in the boundaries of the floor of the mosque courtyard were built for the worshipers to drink {11}, and the mosque remained standing after it was renovated in the Fatimid era in the Caliphate of the Commander in the year 500 AH / 1106 AD when the Mamluk princes ordered them to destroy Damietta, but they kept the mosque  And it remained neglected for a few years until the city was renovated {12},

 The Ayyubid era and the conversion of the mosque into a church: -

 The most amazing thing in the history of this mosque is that it has transformed from a mosque to a church into a mosque a few times. When Jean de Brienne captured the city of Damietta in 616 AH / 1219 CE, the Franks set up the mosque on the night of their control of the city, blowing up women and raping girls, and they made the mosque a church, and they seized the pulpit  And it was ebony and cut it into small pieces, and some kept parts of it and sent the rest of its other parts along with the Qur’ans that were in the mosque to the Pope and the kings of Europe as evidence of the fall of the city into their grip {13}. Al-Suyuti referred to that incident by saying: "Then in the year 616 AH / 1219 AD  The Franks took control of Damietta, and made the mosque their church, and they sent the pulpit and the squares and the heads of the dead to Algeria ... "{14}, and when the Crusaders left Damietta in 1221 AD, it turned into a mosque, and during the campaign of Louis IX in 647 AH / 1249 AD on Damietta, he made that mosque  A cathedral - a large church - and he dedicated it to the Virgin Mary, and he held great religious ceremonies in which he was attended by the Vice-Pope, including the baptism of the child who was born in Damietta, Queen of France, wife of Louis IX, whose name was John and his surname (Atheristan), meaning the sorrow for his birth from the horrors of war, and after the defeat of Louis  Alt  The Crusaders' expedition and exit from Damietta The mosque returned to its previous state, and the shed was built in front of the main entrance on the western façade and the minaret was built to the left of this entrance {15}.

 And in the Mamluk era: -

 This mosque was known as the Mosque of Fateh or Fatih, because a person descended there, he was called: Fatih, and the common people said: The Mosque of Fateh, and according to al-Maqrizi: Fatih bin Uthman al-Asmar al-Takruri, he came from Marrakesh to Damietta on the foot of abstraction in the Sultanate of al-Malik al-Zahir Baybars al-Bunduqdari, and was watered with it  The water in the markets was calculated without anyone taking anything, went to the outside of the gap, and he required prayer with the people, then he went to Tuna from Lake Tanis, and moved from it to Damietta Mosque, and stayed in a den at the bottom of the minaret, went out to Hajj and returned to Damietta, then he took  In restoring the mosque and cleaning it by himself until the bats in it were purified with its roofs, he brought water to its tanks, paved its plate and cast its roof with gypsum, and stayed in it, and before that the mosque was destroyed from the time Damietta was destroyed and did not open until Friday, and he arranged an imam for him to pray the khums.  And he lived in the house of rhetoric, and he continued to establish the wirds in it, and he made reciters in it who recite the Qur’an, and Fatih used to teach people in the mosque and say: “... if I knew Damietta a better place than the mosque, I would have lived there.” {16} Fatih died in Rabi` al-Akhir in 695 AH  He was buried next to the mosque, and his tomb is visited to this day {17}, and several renovations and restorations were added to the mosque during  The Mamluk era, including the strengthening of your sails, the Qibla corridor, after its condition worsened and a tilt occurred in it, and it seems that it affected both the walls of the Eastern and Western Mosque due to the force of kicking.  Therefore, six of your colonnades were added, each with arches perpendicular to your arcades of the old qibla hallway, and parallel to the arcade cut-off, and a portico and arcade were added to each of the western and eastern porticos, each overlooking the courtyard, and the upper part of the minaret on the left of the western entrance to the mosque was rebuilt on  Mamluk Style {18}.

 The Ottoman era: -

 Also, during the Ottoman era, the eastern wall of the mosque was built, as it was adjacent to the mosque's ablution and toilets.  This has always exposed it to damage from moisture.  In the year 1041 AH / 1631 AD the impurity of the mosque had increased the impurity.  As a result, the mosque wall next to it became crumbling.

 In this era, two angles were added to the mosque on either side of the main entrance on the western facade of the mosque, and the corner to the right of the entrance was taken as the headquarters of some Sufi sheikhs in this era, such as Sheikh al-Qutb Abi al-Ghaith al-Qashash al-Tunisi, and one of the Sufis who also resided in it was Sayyid Sharif Muhammad bin Muhammad al-Husseini.  In the year 1036 AH / 1626 CE, as well as Sheikh Abdullah al-Sharif, who was buried in al-Zawiya after his death;  Therefore, it was known as the mausoleum or shrine of Sheikh Abdullah Al-Sharif.

 As for the other corner, which is located to the left of the main entrance to the mosque, next to the minaret, it was taken as a bond and a prayer hall for disabled and disconnected women, and it was known as the Mosque of Women.

 Repair and renovation works: -

 The Mosque of Amr Ibn Al-Aas, which is famous for the Abu Al-Maati Mosque, is one of the mosques that received the attention and care of the Committee for the Preservation of Arab Antiquities since its first inception in the late nineteenth century AD, due to the importance of this mosque from the historical point of view;  It is considered the oldest mosque in Damietta, and the committee had removed the mosque from the antiquities counter in 1886 AD, and it happened that some members of the committee went to inspect the mosque in 1915 AD, as well as inspect the old buildings in Damietta, and the committee considered that it is not necessary now to re-list this relic again among the antiquities.  And it was decided to make a drawing of the mosque showing its conditions and taking photographs for it, and Ali Bahjat Bey suggested transferring some of the artifacts transferred from the mosque to the Arab Antiquities House .

including Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, agreed to start restoring three ancient mosques in Damietta in 2004, namely Amr  Bin Al-Aas, Al-Mueini, and Al-Hadidi in Faraskour city, and Dr. Abdel-Azim, the Minister of the Governor of Damietta at the time, had met the Secretary-General Dr. Zahi Hawass and his accompanying delegation and expressed his fear of the collapse of the ancient mosques, and the governorate coordinated with the Supreme Council of Antiquities to make the necessary repairs to this archaeological mosque  The Ministry of Culture, represented by the Supreme Council of Antiquities, began implementing a comprehensive development project for the antiquities of Damietta, at a total cost of EGP 66 million.  Due to what the region is facing in terms of an increase in groundwater and a deterioration in the state of its effects, the mosque was reopened in front of worshipers on Friday, May 8, 2009 AD, which coincides with the Damietta National Day, which corresponds to the victory of the Damietta people over the Crusade led by Louis IX, King of France, and thus the mosque returned  To its ancient splendor.

 References: -

 [1] Directory of Islamic antiquities registered in the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Ministry of Culture, the Supreme Council of Antiquities, the Islamic and Coptic Antiquities Sector, the monuments registered in Damietta Governorate.

 [2] Muhammad Abd al-Raziq Atta: The city of Damietta from the beginning of the Mamluk era until the end of the Ottoman era, an MA thesis, Faculty of Archeology, Department of Islamic Archeology, Cairo University 2006 AD, p. 207.

 [3] Dr.  Suad Maher: The Mosques of Egypt and Its Righteous Saints, Part 1, the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, p. 247.

 [4] Nicolas Youssef: The History of Damietta, Part 2, National Union House in Damietta 1959 AD, p. 45.

 [5] Al-Maqrizi: Scheme 1/224.

 [6] Nicolas Youssef: Previous reference, p. 476.

 [7] Al-Bouwaik: These are columns linked by arches, also called arches and scales.

 [8] Muhammad Abd al-Raziq Atta: The city of Damietta from the beginning of the Mamluk period until the end of the Ottoman era, p.208.

 [9] Al-Maqrizi: Previous reference, p. 224.

 [10] Muhammad Abd al-Raziq Atta: The city of Damietta from the beginning of the Mamluk era until the end of the Ottoman era.

 [11] Although it was filled in and is currently being built within the recently completed restoration work, the shape of an octagonal fountain similar to the fusqiya in the middle of the courtyard of the Amr Mosque in Fustat.

 [12] Nicolas Youssef: Previous reference, p. 476.

 [13] Dr.  Fayed Hammad Ashour: The Islamic Jihad Against the Crusaders in the Ayyubid Era, Dar Al-I'tisam, p. 326.

 [14] Al-Suyuti.

 [15] Nicolas Youssef: previous reference, page 477, Muhammad Abd al-Raziq Atta: The city of Damietta from the beginning of the Mamluk era until the end of the Ottoman era.

 [16] Al-Maqrizi: Al-Hattat 1/225.

 [17] Al-Maqrizi: Al-Khatat 1/226.

 [18] Muhammad Abd al-Raziq Atta: The city of Damietta from the beginning of the Mamluk era until the end of the Ottoman era