Sheikh Matar Mosque or Sheikh Mutahhar Mosque ( tr, Şeyh Matar Camii, ku, Mizgefta Şêx Matar or ''Mizgefta Şêx Mutahar'') 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, ...

Diyarbakır Diyarbakır (; ; ; ) is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province. Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortress, ...

, Turkey, best known for its unique

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 ...

based on four columns, dubbed the Four-legged Minaret ( tr, Dört Ayaklı Minare, ku, Minareya Çarling). The mosque is situated in the Yenikapı Street of Savaş neighborhood at Diyarbakır's walled historical district of Sur. The mosque is named after Sheikh Matar (Mutahhar) as it is believed that the mosque's estate covering contains the grave of the

sheikh Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of a ...

. According to an inscription attached at the

, the mosque was built by Hajji Hüseyin, son of Hajji Ömer during the reign of

Ag Qoyunlu The Aq Qoyunlu ( az, Ağqoyunlular , ) was a culturally Persianate,Kaushik Roy, ''Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400–1750'', (Bloomsbury, 2014), 38; "Post-Mongol Persia and Iraq were ruled by two tribal confederations: Akkoyunlu (Wh ...

Sultan Kasım Han in 1500. Locally, it is also known as the "Kasım Padishah Mosque". It is owned by the General Directorate of Foundations. The mosque is a single-

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

, quadratic-plan building having stone masonry walls alternating with brick. There are three windows at each side, and two in the front and backside each, all arched. The two windows on 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 ...

wall are closed with masonry. It has a covered area of , and can hold up to 500 worshipers. The stand-alone minaret in the form of a quadratic

prism Prism usually refers to: * Prism (optics), a transparent optical component with flat surfaces that refract light * Prism (geometry), a kind of polyhedron Prism may also refer to: Science and mathematics * Prism (geology), a type of sedimentary ...

is erected on four massive stone columns. In the "Diyarbakır Salnâmeleri" (Yearbooks of Diyarbakır), it is recorded that the tower was built in 906 as a stable and high structure, and was converted into a minaret with the construction of the mosque next to it after the conquest of the region by Islamic people. Today, local people construe that the four columns at the minaret's base symbolize the four main denominations of

Sunni Islam Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagre ...

, namely

Hanafi The Hanafi school ( ar, حَنَفِية, translit=Ḥanafiyah; also called Hanafite in English), Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools ( maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named aft ...

Hanbali The Hanbali school ( ar, ٱلْمَذْهَب ٱلْحَنۢبَلِي, al-maḏhab al-ḥanbalī) is one of the four major traditional Sunni schools (''madhahib'') of Islamic jurisprudence. It is named after the Arab scholar Ahmad ibn Hanbal ...

Maliki The ( ar, مَالِكِي) school is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas in the 8th century. The Maliki school of jurisprudence relies on the Quran and hadiths as primary ...

and

Shafi'i The Shafii ( ar, شَافِعِي, translit=Shāfiʿī, also spelled Shafei) school, also known as Madhhab al-Shāfiʿī, is one of the four major traditional schools of religious law (madhhab) in the Sunnī branch of Islam. It was founded by ...

. The mosque underwent a restoration in 1960 through the General Directorate of Foundations.

Gallery

File:Diyarbakır Sheikh Matar Mosque 7932.jpg, Diyarbakır Sheikh Matar Mosque and Four footed minaret File:Diyarbakır Sheikh Matar Mosque 2816.jpg, Diyarbakır Sheikh Matar Mosque and Four footed minaret File:Diyarbakır Sheikh Matar Mosque 7933.jpg, Diyarbakır Sheikh Matar Mosque Four footed minaret File:Diyarbakır Sheikh Matar Mosque 2812.jpg, Diyarbakır Sheikh Matar Mosque Four footed minaret File:Diyarbakır Sheikh Matar Mosque 0050.jpg, Diyarbakır Sheikh Matar Mosque Son cemaat area File:Diyarbakır Sheikh Matar Mosque 0048.jpg, Diyarbakır Sheikh Matar Mosque Interior File:Diyarbakır Sheikh Matar Mosque 0046.jpg, Diyarbakır Sheikh Matar Mosque Interior

Shootout scene

During a shootout between the members of the Kurdish militant group Patriotic Revolutionary Youth Movement (YDG-H) and the police, two columns of the minaret suffered damage by automatic weapon fire in the night of November 25, 2015.

Tahir Elçi Tahir Elçi (1966, Cizre – 28 November 2015) was a Kurdish lawyer and the chairman of Diyarbakır Bar Association. Early life and education He went to primary and secondary school in Cizre and graduated from Dicle University in 1991. In 1993 ...

, the then chairman of

Diyarbakır Bar Association The Diyarbakır Bar Association is an organization of lawyers established in the year 1927. It is one of the 81 members of the Turkish Bars Association. Several of its leaders were prosecuted and one of its presidents was assassinated. The curre ...

, reacted to the incident with a tweet naming it a "complot". On November 28, 2015, Tahir Elçi gave a press statement at the Four-legged Minaret calling for an end to violence. He said that "armed conflicts with heavy weapons within living areas of civilians like the walled district of Sur in Diyarbakır are not only against the

Geneva Conventions upright=1.15, Original document in single pages, 1864 The Geneva Conventions are four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish international legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war. The singular term ''Geneva Conven ...

, they also damage many historical buildings and mosques. The damage seen on the Four-legged Minaret shows how important our demand is to end armed conflicts and -police- operations within living areas." Shortly after his speech, a shootout erupted between the attacking militants and the police when police stopped a taxi not far from the minaret. Tahir Elçi was hit by a single bullet to his head and died at the spot. Two undercover police officers, including the personal guard of Elçi, were also killed during the shootout.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheikh Matar Mosque Mosques in Diyarbakır Religious buildings and structures completed in 1500 15th-century mosques