Mosque of Amr Ibn al-As - Cairo
History
Mosque of Amr Ibn al-As is also known as the Mosque of Amr in Cairo, it is the first ever mosque built in Egypt and the African Continent. It is believed that the Muslim commander Amr pitched his tent here so it was the start of Fustat (Old Cairo).
The very first mosque on current site was built in between 641- 642. Though originally a modest structure, it was destroyed and restored so often that it is impossible to know the appearance of the first building. The Umayyad ʿAbd al-ʿAziz ibn Marwan demolished the mosque and rebuilt it, probably following closely the original dimensions, in 698. In 827 the Abbasids rebuilt it, doubling its size.
Change Made to Amr Ibn al-As Mosque
The mosque was restored by Saladin in 1172 after the city of al-Fusṭāṭ was burned by crusaders. After periodic cycles of ruin and restoration, the mosque was left to decay with the coming of Napoleon Bonaparte’s troops to Cairo in 1798.
The last major construction was carried out in 1875. Abbas Helmi II of Egypt did restoration work in the 20th century and some parts of the entrance were reconstructed in the 1980s. This mosque is built in a square, around a courtyard, the original mosque was 29 meters in length by 17 meters wide.
One of the most remarkable facts about that mosque is that it was not only a place for prayer but a type of intellectual university built 600 years before the foundation of Al Azhar mosque in Cairo. It was an important place where lesson circles and religious lectures were held. One of the most renowned religious professors and Imams who taught in this mosque was the Mohamed Ibn Idris Al Shafi.
