Mosque Ibn ibn al-AS — Wikipedia
The Mosquée amr ibn al-anh (In Arabic: جامع عمرو بن العاص) is located in the historic district of Cairo, in Egypt. Modified many times over the centuries, it is distinguished both by its modest character and the seniority of its foundation: erected from 642, it was the first mosque built on Egyptian soil, and on African soil in general [ first ] .
It owes its name to the Arab general Amr ibn al-as, which conquered Egypt and introduced Islam there at the end of VII It is century.
Amr Ibn al-As, companion of the prophet and general of the Muslim armies, conquers the rich province of Egypt in 639. After having taken Peluse and the fortress of Babylon of Egypt, he installed a tent camp north of it : The future Fostat (“camping”, in Arabic), which will become Cairo. The legend reports that shortly before making Alexandria work (then capital of Egypt), a dove comes to lay an egg in front of the Tent of the Muslim General. After the latter’s victory, judging the thing of good omen, he decides that at the location of the camp will rise the new capital of the country. In the center of the camp, the commander’s tent is set up as a mosque, following the example of the Prophet Muhammad, who had done the same with his Medina house [ 2 ] .
In 642, a “hard” mosque was built, but remains very rudimentary: the descriptions of the time present it as a small building in raw earth, covered with a palm roof supported by palm trunks. Spreading the shape of a rectangle of 30 cubits of width over 50 in length (i.e. 29 meters out of 15), it included no furniture, had a clay floor, and it is with the help of four pillars that The direction of Mecca was materialized, the holy city towards which believers must turn to pray [ 3 ] . For modest as it is, this building is nonetheless the first mosque to be built on Egyptian soil, and on African soil in general [ first ] .
The sanctuary was enlarged in 672 by Maslamah Ibn Mukhallad al-Ansâri, governor of Egypt for Muʿāwiya, first Caliph Omeyyade. Its area is doubled and four minarets are established at the corners of the building [ 3 ] . The furniture remains very summary, but straw carpets cover the floor [ 4 ] . The mosque is again enlarged by ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Ibn Marwān in 698, and its reinforced structure. A Mirhab Concave (architectural innovation) is set up around this time, copied on that made in the Mosque of Medina by Omar Ibn Abd al-Aziz [ 3 ] . New transformations are carried out in 827, thanks to a work campaign carried out by Abd Allah Ibn Tahir. A few years later, the Abbassid al-Ma’mūn caliph is the source of new transformations, bearing the dimensions of the building 120 meters by 112 [ 4 ] . A new minaret is built (bringing their number to five) under the fatimids. At that time, the small mosque of raw earth was only a distant memory: the walls are now made of stone and the palm trunks have been replaced for a long time by marble columns.
In 1169, Fustat was deliberately burnt down by order of Vizir Shawar, fearing that the city would be taken by the Crusaders [ 4 ] . The center of power is moved further north, where a new city was founded a few years earlier (969): Al-Qaira, “the victorious”, that is to say Cairo.
The mosque will however be noted from its ruins in 1179 by Saladin. In 1302, an earthquake damaged it again, but it was restored [ 4 ] .
A large restoration campaign was carried out in 1796 by Mourad Bey [ 5 ] . Certain parts of the building, too damaged by time, are destroyed. It is around this time that the current minaret is built. New transformations were carried out in 1845, then (partially) in the early 1980s, when the main entrance was rebuilt in particular [ first ] .
In 1992, the building was severely shaken in its structure by an earthquake. Lizardes appear in several places, quickly clogged. Two years later, the , part of the exterior wall collapses. Finally, almost two years to the day, the , a portion of the vault in turn collapses, forcing the authorities to implement a deep restoration campaign, which continues until 2002 [ 4 ] .
The mosque, which mixes elements of different eras, consists of a courtyard (Sahn), enriched with a fountain with ablutions, and surrounded by four porticoes (Riwaq). The prayer room retains its rows of arcades carried by a real column forest, the tradition ensuring that none of them is truly identical to another, due to successive reconstructions [ first ] . Some wood sculptures (at the level of architraves, in particular) date from IX It is century, constituting the oldest parts of the building [ 3 ] . The north and west walls retain bays dated XIV It is century, garnished with moucharabiehs. The old minarets were destroyed and replaced by the current tower, built in XIX It is century.
The building is open to non-Muslims, apart from prayers and religious festivals.
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