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 of law were held
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