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Mosque of Amr Ibn Al As:
Amro mosque
or Mosque of Amr Ibn Al-As is the first mosque built in Egypt and
Africa and It was constructed by Amr Ibn Al-As in 642 AD.
Amr was
the Arab general who conquest Egypt to fight against the Roman and He
was hailed by the Copts as a liberator. Then he was appointed governor
by the Caliph. Amr founded a new capital instead of Alexandria, and that
was Al Fustat.
In he
center of Al Futat was the mosque which later on was named “ The Mosque
of Amr” It was surrounded by the plans and houses of Al Fustat.
Originally the mosque was overlooking the Nile from the Northwest side .
The
mosque was called “ the Crown of the Mosques” and the Antique Mosque. In
fact the actual features of the mosque is very different of his first
ancient aspect. Many reconstructions, and restorations took place since
the time of its foundation till now to be resulted in its actual. The
mosque was built in a shape of rectangular low shed of wood and palm
leaves supported on columns of palm stems, stones and mud bricks while
the floor was covered with gravel. That first simple mosque measures
about 29 m. in length and 17 m. in width.
Since
the time of the foundation of the mosque many additions and extensions
took place, but the most important one was made by the governor Abudllah
Ibn Taher during the reign of Caliph Al Mamoun in the 9th century . He
extended the mosque adding a new area at the S.W side and that extension
was the last one. Thus at that time the mosque measures 120 m. in length
and 112 m. in width, and that represents the actual area of the mosque.
At the end of the Fatimid period, the mosque was ruined as a result of
Al Fustat Fire which took place in 1175 AD. When Al Fustat was burnt by
Shawer, the Vizier of the Fatimid Caliph Al Adid, to prevent the
crusaders from invading Al Fustat , and that fire continued 54
days.Therefore Saladin rebuilt it and renovated it in 1179 AD. Just
before the arrival of the French Expedition to Egypt Mourad Bey one of
the Mameluke leaders in the end of the 18th century demolished the
mosque and rebuilt it in 1796 AD. Mourad Bey changed the Iwan and the
courtyard replacing the seven rows of coumns in the quibla liwan with 6
ones and changing the bays to be perpendicular to the quibla wall
instead of being parallel to it. Most probably he built the remaining
minarets, one above the right entrance in the façade and the other is
situated above the right end of the quibla wall. He renovated the
ceiling, and covered the floor with mats and provided the mosque with
candelabras. Also he made 4 foundation tablets still existing, bearing
poetic verses praising and dating his achievements. One of this tablets
is fixed to the quibla wall to the left of the Mihrab.
In 1906
during the reign of khedive Abbas Helmy II, the mosque was restored
entirely. These works were achieved by the Arab Antiquities Preservation
committee.
At the
Southern corner of the quibla Riwaq there is a Mausoleum below a dome,
Perhaps it belongs to Abdulla the son of Amr, some Historians cant
confirm that, they believe that no honorable figure was buried in that
Mausoleum.
One of the
most remarkable facts about that mosque, that it was not only a place
for prayer but also a very important kind of university 600 years before
the foundation of Al Azhar mosque in Cairo.
It was the
place where lesson circles and religious lectures were held. One of the
most important Religious professors and Imams who taught in this mosque,
was the Mohamed Ibn Idris Al Shafi’.
Finally we should mention that in the Western addition (Ziada) there
was used as a court of low and many trials were held.
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