Long Way Education

By Eman Abdallah Kamel

Eman is a writer and an engineer. She is interested in searching for and writing about mosques in Egypt.

Amr Ibn al-As Mosque is considered the oldest mosque in Egypt and Africa. In this article, you will learn the location and first structure of Amr’s mosque, the basic expansions and reforms of the mosque through the centuries, and the present layout of the mosque.

Amr Ibn Al-Aas Mosque

Amr ibn al-Aas Mosque was the first mosque built in Egypt and Africa in 642 AD, after the Arab-Islamic conquest of Egypt in 641 AD under Commander Amr ibn al-Aas.

After Amr ibn al-Aas had ended the rule of the Romans in Egypt, Copts praised him as a liberator for saving them from Roman persecution during the late Roman rule of Egypt.

By order of Caliph Umar Ibn al-Khattab, Amr Ibn al-Aas built Al Fustat, which became the capital of Egypt instead of the ancient capital of Alexandria, which was the capital of Egypt during the Roman era. Thus, Al Fustat was the first Islamic capital in Africa.

Amr Ibn al-As built the mosque in the center of Al Fustat. The mosque of Amr Ibn al-As was known by several names, including the old mosque and the crown of the mosques.

The Location and the First Structure

Commander Amr ibn al-As built the mosque on the eastern bank of the Nile, about 100 meters south of the Babylon Fortress. The Mosque of Amr was located directly on the Nile when it was built, but the course of the Nile gradually moved toward the west until it became what it is now.

The Amr Mosque was built in the style of the oldest and most important architectural method of building mosques, the Prophet Muhammad’s (peace and blessings be upon him) mosque.

Amr ibn al-As also built his house on the east side of the mosque and left a path about four meters wide, similar to the Prophet’s house in Medina and his mosque.

The original design of the mosque was 29 meters long and 17 meters wide.

It was a low shed with pillars made of palm tree trunks, stones, and bricks, covered with a wooden roof and palm leaves. The floor was made of gravel.

Four pillars in the qibla wall indicated the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca. It was large enough to offer an area for the prayers.

The mosque had no adornment and no courtyards, niches, or minarets. The mosque remained until 672 AD.

The Current Layout

The present mosque area is 120 meters by 110 meters.

The current mosque does not include anything of the old mosque that Amr built, except the area of the land on which it was built. This area is in the eastern part of the Qibla Riwaq (arcade).

The layout of the mosque consists of the main entrance on the western side of the mosque, which consists of a large open courtyard surrounded by four arcades (Riwaq) with simple wooden ceilings. The largest is the Qibla Riwaq, which contains two prayer niches (mihrab), each with a wooden pulpit (minbar). The Qibla wall contains two paintings dating back to the Mamluk period.

A dome in the northeastern corner of the Qibla Riwaq dates back to Abdullah bin Amr ibn al-As.

The large open courtyard of the mosque includes a dome built on eight round marble columns.

Some arched windows of the old mosque are decorated with frescoes whose remains are still found on the southern wall.

There are a few transverse wooden supports above the columns; these wooden supports often have delightful decorations based on the use of floral motifs in the form of grape leaves.

One of the mosque’s minarets dates back to the Murad Bey era. It is a simple minaret with a conical top.

The Basic Expansions and Reforms of the Mosque Through Centuries

In 673 AD, Maslama ibn Mukhallad al-Ansari extended the mosque. Much of this extension was built on the north side, increasing the size of the prayer hall and courtyard. Four minarets were also built, one in each corner of the mosque.

In 698 AD, Caliph Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan extended the mosque west and north to double the original size four times.

The ruler Abdullah bin Abdul Malik raised the mosque’s roof in 707 AD. In 710 AD, the ruler Qurra Ibn Shareek demolished the mosque and rebuilt it. In 750 AD, Salah Ibn Ali added four more passages to the mosque. In 791 AD, Musa bin Isa extended the back of the mosque.

In 827 AD, Abdallah ibn Tahir al-Khurasani extended the mosque to a large extent. That was the last expansion phase that gave the mosque its present limits. The fire consumed much of the mosque in 888 AD. But the mosque was restored by Khumarawayh ibn Ahmad ibn Tulun.

In 1167, the mosque was wholly burned with Al Fustat by order from Shawar to defend against the Crusaders. In 1171, the mosque was rebuilt by order of Sultan Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi.

In 1228, Sultan Baibars restored parts of the prayer hall. The earthquake severely damaged the building in 1302 AD, but it was later restored by An-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalawun.

In 1401, another earthquake hit the mosque. But these fixes were made by top traders.

In 1796 AD, Mamluk Murad Bey ordered the rebuilding of the mosque. The builders reduced the number of rows of columns from seven to six and changed the direction of the passages to make them perpendicular to the qibla wall.

In 1906, under Abbas II, the khedive of Egypt, the mosque was restored. These works were carried out by the Committee for the Preservation of Arab Antiquities. In the 1980s, parts of the mosque’s entrance were rebuilt.

The First Islamic University

The mosque of Amr Ibn al-As was not only a place of prayer. However, it was an intellectual Islamic university built 600 years before Al-Azhar, Ez-Zitouna, and Al Quaraouiyine universities.

In this great mosque, students learned all the sciences of the Arabic language and Islamic studies.

Among the most famous teachers of Islamic sciences in the Amr Mosque were Imam Al-Laith bin Saad, Imam Al-Shafi’i, Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani, Ezz bin Abdul Salam, and Muhammad Al-Ghazali.

More Information

• The Mosque of Amr Ibn Al-As is located in the heart of Egypt, in Old Cairo. This area is filled with historical monuments and museums. Some Islamic monuments in the region follow UNESCO. There are also many markets in Old Cairo, the most famous of which is Khan al-Khalili.
• Amr Ibn Al-As Mosque has a great place in the hearts of Egyptians. The mosque is always full of worshipers during prayer times, especially during Ramadan. In non-prayer times, it is open to tourists and visitors.

Sources

• Egypt State Information Service (SIS)—SIS.
• Behrens-Abouseif. Doris. 1989. Islamic Architecture in Cairo. Leiden: E. J. Brill. www.academia.edu/42811042/ISLAMIC_ARCHITECTURE_IN_CAIRO

©Eman Abdallah Kamel, 2022

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