The Mosque of Queen Arwa bint Ahmad Al-Sulayhi, or simply the Queen Arwa Mosque ( ar, مَسْجِد ٱلْمَلِكَة أَرْوَى بِنْت أَحْمَد ٱلصُّلَيْحِي, Masjid Al-Malikah Arwā bint Aḥmad Aṣ-Ṣulayḥī), is a historical

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

in Jibla,

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

. It was built between 1056 and 1111 CE by Queen Arwa al-Sulayhi and her tomb had later become the site of pilgrimage. It retains its importance as one of the oldest ancient Yemeni mosques. It is also known as ''Hurrat-ul-Malikah'' Mosque, as the queen was often referred as Al-Malika Al-Hurra, which means "The Noble Queen".

History

The construction of the mosque is attributed to Queen Arwa bint Ahmad al-Sulayhi, who ruled the Sulayhid state of Yemen for the period between 1085 and 1138. When Queen Arwa moved to the city of Jibla in 1087, she ordered the conversion of Dar Al-'Ezz ( ar, دَار ٱلْعِزّ, Dār Al-ʿIzz) Palace into a mosque. The mosque still retains its architectural and decorative elements of the time which show the extent of the influence of

Fatimid architecture The Fatimid architecture that developed in the Fatimid Caliphate (909–1167 CE) of North Africa combined elements of eastern and western architecture, drawing on Abbasid architecture, Byzantine, Egypt, Ancient Egyptian, Coptic architecture ...

Architecture

The complex is rectangular with an open courtyard () in the middle, surrounded by four corridors. The wall of the ''

qibla The qibla ( ar, قِبْلَة, links=no, lit=direction, translit=qiblah) is the direction towards the Kaaba in the Sacred Mosque in Mecca, which is used by Muslims in various religious contexts, particularly the direction of prayer for the s ...

h'' is located at the northern hallway. The area of the ''qiblah'' is accessible through five entrances on the southern side. It consists of four rows of high columns, some octagonal and some rectangular shaped. The roof is directly covered by the ceiling and the hall is covered with wooden beams dating back to the 11th-century, some of which were renewed in 1358. The southern hallway consists of southern wall with two entrances. The eastern hallway consists of two pillars with pointed columns. On the south-side of the western hallway there is a hall currently used as a madrasa for the memorization of the Quran. File:Jibla.jpg, Courtyard File:Mosque carved historical entrance.JPG, Carved historical entrance File:Wooden ceiling, Maulatena Hurratul Maleka.jpg, Wooden ceiling

Mihrab

The ''

mihrab Mihrab ( ar, محراب, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "qibla w ...

'' is located in the middle of the wall of the ''

h'' at the northern hallway. It is a simple cavity of about 85 cm deep, and topped by a tapered lace on two poles with floral and geometric motifs. The ''mihrab'' is surrounded by kufic inscriptions, which reads as follows: "In the name of God the Most Gracious the Most Merciful I accept your Lord and be among the worshipers and not of the ignorant and worship your Lord until there comes to you the certainty (death)", and decoration of niche from the inside and variety of plant decorations which includes leaves of grapes. On the side of the ''mihrab'' there is an inscription written in kufic of script from Surah At-Taubah 18. The ''mihrab'' is painted with modern chemical paint.

Minarets

The mosque has two

minaret A minaret (; ar, منارة, translit=manāra, or ar, مِئْذَنة, translit=miʾḏana, links=no; tr, minare; fa, گل‌دسته, translit=goldaste) is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generall ...

s, one located on south-east, and another on south-west. The eastern minaret consists of a high square stone based body with sixteen ribs. File:Jibla, Yemen (15452313647).jpg, Both of the mosque's minarets, as seen from below File:Mosque view from entrance.JPG, View from the entrance, January 1970 File:Minerat seem from palace of Arwa al-Sulayhi, Jibla, Yemen.jpg, As seen from the

Palace of Queen Arwa The Palace of Queen Arwa ( ar, قَصْر ٱلْمَلِكَة ٱلْحُرَّة, lit=Palace of the Noble Queen) was the residence of the Yemeni Queen Arwa al-Sulayhi ) , name = Arwā bint Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ...

Mausoleum of the Queen

It was built as ordered by the queen and is located on the north-west corner of the mosque. The site of her tomb was separated from the building of the mosque as she mentioned in her will and told by eyewitnesses and judges. The facade of the mausoleum is adorned with architectural elements, in the form of hollow niches in the eastern wall. Out of four entrances, there are two in the south which have width of , height of and depth of . The kufic line is engraved with a prominent kufic floral engraving design and

Biblical The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

scripts on the façade. File:Mousoleum Hurrat-ul-Malaika Arwa.JPG, Mausoleum of the Queen inside the Mosque File:Hurratul malika.jpg, The Queen's grave

Gallery

File:Cont.water at Hurrat-ul-Malaika mosque.JPG, Continuous running water at the mosque File:Queen_Arwa_al-Sulayhi_Masjid.jpg, View of the mosque, nestled in the buildings of Jibla and slopes of the Sarat Mountains, as seen from the palace File:Tasbih Hurrat-ul-Malaika .JPG, Wooden tasbih of Hurrat-ul-Malaika File:Mimbar Hurrat-ul-Malaika Mosque, Ji Jibla.jpg, Mimbar

References

External links

Queen Arwa Mosque, 11th Century, Jibla, Ibb Governorate, Yemen
{{Tourist attractions in Yemen Buildings and structures completed in 1111 12th-century mosques Mosques in Yemen