page_title: Al-Azhar Mosque
section_title: Structural evolution under Fatimids
hierarchical_section_title: Al-Azhar Mosque / Architecture / Structural evolution under Fatimids
caption_attribution_description: Main prayer hall of Al-Azhar Mosque
context_page_description: Al-Azhar Mosque, known simply in Egypt as al-Azhar, is an Egyptian mosque in Islamic Cairo. Al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah of the Fatimid dynasty commissioned its construction for the newly established capital city in 970. Its name is usually thought to derive from az-Zahrāʾ, a title given to Fatimah. It was the first mosque established in Cairo, a city that has since gained the nickname "the City of a Thousand Minarets".
  After its dedication in 972, and with the hiring by mosque authorities of 35 scholars in 989, the mosque slowly developed into what is today the second oldest continuously run university in the world after Al Karaouine in Idrisid Fes. Al-Azhar University has long been regarded as the foremost institution in the Islamic world for the study of Sunni theology and sharia, or Islamic law. The university, integrated within the mosque as part of a mosque school since its inception, was nationalized and officially designated an independent university in 1961, following the Egyptian Revolution of 1952.
  Over the course of its over a millennium-long history, the mosque has been alternately neglected and highly regarded.
context_section_description: Completely surrounded by dependencies added as the mosque was used over time, the original structure was 280 feet (85 m) in length and 227 feet (69 m) wide, and comprised three arcades situated around a courtyard. To the southeast of the courtyard, the original prayer hall was built as a hypostyle hall, five aisles deep. Measuring 260 feet (79 m) by 75 feet (23 m), the qibla wall was slightly off the correct angle. The marble columns supporting the four arcades that made up the prayer hall were reused from sites extant at different times in Egyptian history, from Pharaonic times through Roman rule to Coptic dominance. The different heights of the columns were made level by using bases of varying thickness. The stucco exterior shows influences from Abbasid, Coptic and Byzantine architecture.
  Ultimately a total of three domes were built, a common trait among early north African mosques, although none of them have survived Al-Azhar's many renovations. The historian al-Maqrizi recorded that in the original dome al-Siqilli inscribed the following:
  In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate; according to the command for its building from the servant of Allah, His governor abu Tamim Ma'ad, the Imam al-Mu‘izz li-Dīn Allāh, Amir al-Mu'minin, for whom and his illustrious forefathers and his sons may there be the blessings of Allah: By the hand of his servant Jawhar, the Secretary, the Ṣiqillī in the year 360.
   Gawhar included the honorific Amir al-Mu'minin, Commander of the Faithful, as the Caliphs title and also included his nickname "the Secretary" which he had earned serving as a secretary prior to becoming a general.
  
  The original mihrab, uncovered in 1933, has a semi-dome above it with a marble column on either side. Intricate stucco decorations were a prominent feature of the mosque, with the mihrab and the walls ornately decorated. The mihrab had two sets of verses from the Quran inscribed in the conch, which is still intact. The first set of verses are the three that open al-Mu’minoon:
  The next inscription is made up of verses 162 and 163 of al-An'am:
  These inscriptions are the only surviving piece of decoration that has been definitively traced to the Fatimids.
  The marble paved central courtyard was added between 1009 and 1010. The arcades that surround the courtyard have keel shaped arches with stucco inscriptions. The arches were built during the reign of al-Hafiz li-Din Allah. The stucco ornaments also date to his rule and were redone in 1891. Two types of ornaments are used. The first appears above the center of the arch and consists of a sunken roundel and twenty-four lobes. A circular band of vegetal motifs was added in 1893. The second ornament used, which alternates with the first appearing in between each arch, consists of shallow niches below a fluted hood. The hood rests on engaged columns which are surrounded by band of Qu'ranic writing in Kufic script. The Qu'ranic script was added after the rule of al-Hafiz but during the Fatimid period. The walls are topped by a star shaped band with tiered triangular crenellations. The southeastern arcade of the courtyard contains the main entrance to the prayer hall. A Persian framing gate, in which the central arch of the arcade is further in with a higher rectangular pattern above it, opens into the prayer hall.
  A new wooden door was installed during the reign of al-Hakim in 1009. In 1125, al-Amir installed a new wooden mihrab. An additional dome was constructed during the reign of al-Hafiz li-Din Allah. He additionally ordered the creation of a fourth arcade around the courtyard and had a porch built on the western end of the sahn.
caption: Hypostyle prayer hall with columns used from various periods in Egyptian history
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