Great Mosque of Kairouan

De Great Mosque of Kairouan (Arabic: جامع القيروان الأكبر), dem sanso know am as de Mosque of Uqba (جامع عقبة بن نافع), be a mosque wey dey situate insyd de UNESCO World Heritage town of Kairouan, Tunisia wey ebe one of de largest Islamic monuments insyd North Africa. || Géotunis 2009 :: Kairouan || 

De Arab general Uqba ibn Nafi establish am insyd de year 50 AH (670AD/CE) for de founding of de city of Kairouan, de mosque dey occupy an area of over .  Ebe one of de oldest places of worship insyd de Islamic world, wey ebe a model give all later mosques insyd de Maghreb.Great Mosque of Kairouan (discoverislamicart.org) Archived 2013-04-07 at the Wayback Machine Ein perimeter, of about , dey contain a hypostyle prayer hall, a marble-paved courtyard den a square minaret. For addition to ein spiritual prestige, de Mosque of Uqba be one of de masterpieces of Islamic architecture, The Great Mosque (kairouan-cci2009.nat.tn) notable among oda things for de first Islamic use of de horseshoe arch.

Extensive works under de Aghlabids two centuries later (9th Cent.AD/CE) give de mosque ein present aspect. M’hamed Hassine Fantar, De Carthage à Kairouan: 2000 ans d’art et d’histoire en Tunisie, éd. Agence française d’action artistique, Paris, 1982, p. 23     De fame of de Mosque of Uqba den of de oda holy sites for Kairouan help de city make e develop den expand. De university, dey consist of scholars wey teach insyd de mosque, na ebe a centre of education both insyd Islamic thought den insyd de secular sciences. Wilfrid Knapp and Nevill Barbour, North West Africa : a political and economic survey, Editions Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1977, page 404     Dem fi compare ein role for de time to dat of de University of Paris insyd de Middle Ages. Henri Saladin, Tunis et Kairouan, Editions Henri Laurens, Paris, 1908, page 118     Plus de decline of de city from de mid-11th century, de centre of intellectual thought move go de University of Ez-Zitouna insyd Tunis. Mahmud Abd al-Mawla, L’université zaytounienne et la société tunisienne, éditions Maison Tiers-Monde, Tunis, 1984, page 33

 Location den general aspect 


E locate insyd de north-east of de medina of Kairouan, de mosque be insyd de intramural district of Houmat al-Jami (literally "area of de Great Mosque"). Dis location correspond originally to de heart of de urban fabric of de city Uqba ibn Nafi found. However given de natural lay of de land dem cross by chaw tributaries of de wadis, de urban development of de city spread southwards. Human factors wey dey include Hilalian ein invasions insyd 449 AH (1057 AD) lead to de decline of de city wey e halt development. For all dese reasons, na de mosque wich once occupy de center of de medina wen dem first build am insyd 670 be now for de easternmost quarter wey dey abut de city walls.

The building be a vast slightly irregular quadrilateral wey dey cover sam 9,000 m2. E be longer (127.60 metres) for de east syd dan de west (125.20 metres), den shorter for de north syd (72.70 metres) dan de south (78 metres). De main minaret be centered for de north. 

From de outsyd, de Great Mosque of Kairouan be a fortress-like building plus ein 1.90 metres thick massive ocher walls, a composite of well-worked stones plus intervening courses of rubble stone den baked bricks. De corner towers dey measure 4.25 metres for each syd be buttressed plus solid projecting supports. Structurally dem give de soft grounds subject to compaction, de buttressed towers add stability to de entire mosque.Néji Djelloul, op. cit., p. 8 Despite de austere façades, de rhythmic patterns of buttresses den towering porches, sam dem surmount by cupolas, give de sanctuary a sense of striking sober grandeur.Henri Saladin, Tunis et Kairouan, coll. Les Villes d’art célèbres, éd. Henri Laurens, Paris, 1908, p. 120

 Architecture den decoration 

alt=Annotated diagram of the mosque, seen from several angles.|center|upright=2.62|thumb|Overview of de building (centre), southern façade to de outsyd (left) wey dem fi see de Minaret de courtyard (right)


 Exterior 

 Enclosure 

 Courtyard 

 Details of de courtyard 

 Minaret 
alt=A square stone tower rises high above a wall.|thumb|De world ein oldest surviving minaret, 8th–9th centuries.

 Interior 

 Prayer hall 

 Columns den ceiling 

 Mihrab den minbar 

 Maqsura 

 Role insyd Muslim civilisation 

For de time of ein greatest splendor, between de ninth den eleventh centuries AD, na Kairouan be one of de greatest centres of Islamic civilisation wey ein reputation as a hotbed of scholarship cover de entire Maghreb. During dis period, na de Great Mosque of Kairouan be both a place of prayer den a centre for teaching Islamic sciences under de Maliki current. One fi conceivably compare ein role to dat of de University of Paris during de Middle Ages.Henri Saladin, Tunis et Kairouan, p. 118

For addition to studies for de deepening of religious thought den Maliki jurisprudence, de mosque sanso host chaw courses insyd secular subjects such as mathematics, astronomy, medicine den botany. Na de transmission of knowledge be assured by prominent scholars den theologians wich include Sahnun ibn Sa'id den Asad ibn al-Furat, eminent jurists wey contribute greatly to de dissemination of de Maliki thought, Ishaq ibn Imran den Ibn al-Jazzar insyd medicine, Abu Sahl al-Kairouani den Abd al-Monim al-Kindi insyd mathematics. Thus, de mosque, headquarters of a prestigious university plus a large library wey dey contain a large number of scientific den theological works, na ebe de most remarkable intellectual den cultural centre insyd North Africa during de ninth, tenth den eleventh centuries.
 References 

 Read further 
 Néji Djelloul, 2000. Kairouan, the Great Mosque. Editions Contrastes.
 Paul Sebag, 1965. Great Mosque of Kairouan. New York Macmillan.
 John D. Hoag, 1987. Islamic architecture. Rizzoli.
 Jonathan M. Bloom, 2002. Early Islamic art and architecture. Ashgate.
 G. T. Rivoira, 2009, Moslem Architecture. Its Origins and Development. ASLAN PR.

 External links 

 Great Mosque of Kairouan (Qantara Mediterranean Heritage)
 Video of the mihrab of the Great Mosque of Kairouan

Category:7th-century establishments insyd Africa
Category:8th-century mosques
Uqba
Category:Arcades (architecture)
Category:Kairouan
Category:7th-century establishments insyd de Umayyad Caliphate
Kairouan
Category:670 establishments
Category:Religious buildings den structures dem plete insyd de 670s
Category:703 establishments
Category:Religious buildings den structures dem plete insyd de 700s
Category:7th-century mosques
Category:Aghlabid architecture
Category:2025 Wiki Dey Love Ramadan Contributions