The Qasim Ali Khan Mosque (Urdu, ); ( hnd, قاسم علی خان مسیت) is a 17th-century mosque in

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. Located in Qissa Khwani Bazaar, Mohallah Baqir Shah. The mosque was built during

Emperor Aurangzeb Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as ( fa, , lit=Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir ( fa, , translit=ʿĀlamgīr, lit=Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling ...

's reign (1658 to 1707), by Qasim Ali Khan, a news writer and administrator in the government of

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

. The mosque is situated in the Misgaran Qissa Khwani Bazaar.

Origin

Its creation story is deeply rooted in

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

. The legend has been passed down through generations of residents, creating a conflict amongst scholars and historians concerning the real builders' identities.Masjid Myths
October 6, 2014 Another contender includes the engineer that provided its name, Qasim Ali Khan. He was the first to lay a road through the

Khyber Pass The Khyber Pass (خیبر درہ) is a mountain pass in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, on the border with the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan. It connects the town of Landi Kotal to the Valley of Peshawar at Jamrud by traversing pa ...

and was later appointed governor of Kabul and Peshawar.

Khateeb

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the northwestern region of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ...

's residents invariably begin and end fasting according to an announcement made by the mosque's

khateeb In Islam, a khatib, khateeb or hatib ( ar, خطيب ''khaṭīb'') is a person who delivers the sermon (''khuṭbah'') (literally "narration"), during the Friday prayer and Eid prayers. The ''khateeb'' is usually the prayer leader ('' imam'') ...

– lately Muhammad Shahabuddin Popalzai (6th Khateeb of the Popalzai family). Shahabuddin’s uncle Abdur Rahim Popalzai II was one of the more documented Popalzais. Born in the 1890s, he took part in the

Khilafat Movement The Khilafat Movement (1919–24), also known as the Caliphate movement or the Indian Muslim movement, was a pan-Islamist political protest campaign launched by Muslims of British India led by Shaukat Ali, Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar, Hakim Ajma ...

in his teens. Mufti Abdur Rahim Popalzai II published a journal by the name of Sarfaroosh and was part of the freedom movement against the British. Upon his death in 1944, his younger brother also known as Mufti, Sarhad Mufti Muhammad Abdul Qayyum Popalzai (1911–1983) took the mantle. He was also a part of various national and international movements including the freedom movement -Tahreek-e-Tahaffuz Khatm-e-Nubuwwat. He was also the companion of Ameer Shariat Syed Attaullah Shah Bukhari, Moulana Ghulam Ghous Hazarvi and Moulana Syed Gul Badshah before passing it on.

References

{{coord, 34, 0, 33.77, N, 71, 34, 16.25, E, type:landmark_region:PK, display=title Mosques in Peshawar Mughal mosques