, native_name_lang = ara , image = Ancient Mosul, a Yezidi shrine to the left and the Nouri Mosque minaret to the right.jpg , image_upright = 1.4 , alt = , caption = Al Nouri mosque in 1932 , map_type = Iraq , map_size = 240 , map_alt = , map_relief = 1 , map_caption = Location in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

, coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , religious_affiliation = Islam , locale = , location =

Mosul Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second larg ...

, Nineveh Governorate,

, deity = , rite = , sect = Sunni Islam , tradition = , festival = , cercle = , sector = , municipality = , district = , territory = , prefecture = , state = , province = , region = , country = , administration = , consecration_year = , organisational_status =

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, ...

, functional_status = Destroyed reconstruction ongoing , heritage_designation = , ownership = , governing_body = , leadership = , bhattaraka = , patron = , website = , architect = , architecture_type = , architecture_style =

Islamic architecture Islamic architecture comprises the architectural styles of buildings associated with Islam. It encompasses both secular and religious styles from the early history of Islam to the present day. The Islamic world encompasses a wide geographic ...

, founded_by = , creator =

Nur ad-Din Zangi Nūr al-Dīn Maḥmūd Zengī (; February 1118 – 15 May 1174), commonly known as Nur ad-Din (lit. "Light of the Faith" in Arabic), was a member of the Zengid dynasty, which ruled the Syrian province (''Shām'') of the Seljuk Empire. He reig ...

, funded_by = , general_contractor = , established = , groundbreaking = , year_completed = 1172–1173 AD , construction_cost = , date_destroyed = 21 June 2017 , facade_direction = , capacity = , length = , width = , width_nave = , interior_area = , height_max = , dome_quantity = , dome_height_outer = , dome_height_inner = , dome_dia_outer = , dome_dia_inner = , minaret_quantity = 1 , minaret_height = , spire_quantity = , spire_height = , site_area = , temple_quantity = , monument_quantity = , shrine_quantity = , inscriptions = , materials = Brick, stone,

hazarbaf In Iranian architecture, banna'i ( fa, بنائی, "builder's technique" in Persian) is an architectural decorative art in which glazed tiles are alternated with plain bricks to create geometric patterns over the surface of a wall or to spell out ...

, elevation_m = , elevation_footnotes = , nrhp = , designated = , added = , refnum = , footnotes = The Great Mosque of al-Nuri ( ar, جامع النوري, Jāmiʿ an-Nūrī) was a

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, ...

. It was famous for its leaning minaret, which gave the city its nickname "the hunchback" ( ar, الحدباء, ''al-Ḥadbāˈ''). Tradition holds that the mosque was first built in the late 12th century, although it underwent many renovations over the years. The mosque withstood various hostile invading forces over its 850-year history until it was destroyed, along with its distinctive minaret, in the Battle of Mosul in 2017. Iraqi troops attributed the destruction of the Great Mosque to the

Islamic State An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

in a vandalistic move to destroy it rather than let it go from their hold. The mosque had held a symbolic importance to IS and its leader,

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ( ar, أبو بكر البغدادي, ʾAbū Bakr al-Baḡdādī; born Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim Ali Muhammad al-Badri al-Samarrai ( ar, إبراهيم عواد إبراهيم علي محمد البدري السامرائي, ʾIb ...

, as it was used in 2014 by the militants to self-declare their "

caliphate A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

". IS's black flag had been flying on the 45-metre minaret after their militants surged across Iraq and Syria seizing territory, and they had promised to never let their flag be lowered from it. Contrary to official accounts and local eyewitnesses, IS alleged that U.S. forces destroyed it. IS's claim was not substantiated. The BBC reported that "IS accused the United States-led coalition aircraft of bombing the site, but experts said a video circulated online appeared to show charges inside the structures exploding." Iraqi Prime Minister

Haider al-Abadi Haider Jawad Kadhim al-Abadi ( ar, حيدر جواد كاظم العبادي; born 25 April 1952) is an Iraqi politician who was Prime Minister of Iraq from September 2014 until October 2018. Previously he served as Minister of Communication fro ...

stated that the destruction of the mosque by IS was a "declaration of defeat", and that " owing up the al-Hadba minaret and the al-Nuri mosque amounts to an official acknowledgment of defeat y ISIS"

Construction

Tradition holds that

, a Turkoman '' atabeg'' of the

Great Seljuk Empire The Great Seljuk Empire, or the Seljuk Empire was a high medieval, culturally Turko-Persian, Sunni Muslim empire, founded and ruled by the Qïnïq branch of Oghuz Turks. It spanned a total area of from Anatolia and the Levant in the west to t ...

and sultan of its Syrian province, built the mosque in 1172–1173, shortly before his death. According to the chronicle of

Ibn al-Athir Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ash-Shaybānī, better known as ʿAlī ʿIzz ad-Dīn Ibn al-Athīr al-Jazarī ( ar, علي عز الدین بن الاثیر الجزري) lived 1160–1233) was an Arab or Kurdish historian a ...

, after Nur ad-Din took control of Mosul he ordered his nephew Fakhr al-Din to build the mosque: In 1511, the mosque was extensively renovated by the Safavid Empire.

Minaret

The mosque was well known for its leaning minaret, known as ''al-Hadba’'' ("the hunchback"). Grattan Geary, a 19th-century traveler, described the minaret's appearance: When the cylindrical minaret was built it stood high, with seven bands of decorative brickwork in complex geometric patterns ascending in levels towards the top. By the time the traveler Ibn Battuta visited in the 14th century it was already listing and had acquired its nickname. The design of the minaret follows a form originally developed in neighboring

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

and shares similarities with other minarets in northern Iraq, such as those in Mardin,

Sinjar Sinjar ( ar, سنجار, Sinjār; ku, شنگال, translit=Şingal, syr, ܫܝܓܪ, Shingar) is a town in the Sinjar District of the Nineveh Governorate in northern Iraq. It is located about five kilometers south of the Sinjar Mountains. Its p ...

and Arbil. It is depicted on Iraq's 10,000 dinar note. According to local tradition (which resolutely ignores chronology), the minaret gained its tilt after the Prophet

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...

passed overhead while ascending to heaven. The minaret bowed itself in reverence but could only regain its balance after its top joint had been kinked in the opposite direction. According to local Christian tradition, however, the mosque's tilt was due to its bowing towards the tomb of the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

, reputedly located near Arbil. It is also nicknamed by some as Iraq's "Tower of Pisa", as the mosque's signature tilt was compared to that of the '' Torre di Pisa'' in Italy''.''

Modern history

Both the mosque and its

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...

were dismantled and reassembled in 1942 in a restoration programme undertaken by the Iraqi government. The minaret remained unrestored, although attempts were made in 1981 by an Italian firm to stabilise it. The bombing of Mosul during the

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Ba'athist Iraq, Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations S ...

in the 1980s broke underground pipes and caused leaks under the minaret that further undermined it. The lean later worsened by another . The cause of the lean was disputed – some have blamed the prevailing wind – but local officials have attributed it to the effects of

thermal expansion Thermal expansion is the tendency of matter to change its shape, area, volume, and density in response to a change in temperature, usually not including phase transitions. Temperature is a monotonic function of the average molecular kinetic ...

caused by the heat of the sun, causing bricks on the sun-facing side to expand and progressively tilt the minaret. In recent years cracks proliferated along the base of the minaret, which leant nearly off vertical. It was listed by the

World Monuments Fund World Monuments Fund (WMF) is a private, international, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites around the world through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and trainin ...

as a site of concern due to the ongoing risk of collapse. The structure was targeted by

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

militants who occupied Mosul on 10 June 2014, and previously destroyed the Tomb of Yunus. However, residents of Mosul, incensed with the destruction of their cultural sites, protected the mosque by forming a human chain and forming a resistance against ISIL. Rather than destroying the site, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi appeared during a Friday prayer in this mosque on 4 July 2014 to declare the formation of a new caliphate.

Destruction

By June 2017, the Battle of Mosul had progressed to the stage that IS-controlled territory in Mosul was limited to the Old City area, which included the mosque. On 21 June 2017, Iraqi government forces reported that the mosque had been blown up by IS forces at 9:50 PM and that the blast was indicative of bombs being deliberately placed to bring it down. Amaq, an information wing of IS that often reports news favorable to the terrorist organization, claimed an airstrike by the United States was responsible for the destruction, but this claim was not substantiated by any evidence. Iraqi forces were within of the mosque before the explosion, and finally captured the site a week later on 29 June. Aerial photographs and a video of the destruction were released by the Iraqi military a few hours after the explosion. The video, particularly, clearly showed charges inside the structure exploding. Iraqi Prime Minister

stated that the destruction of the mosque was IS's "declaration of defeat".

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

journalist Paul Adams interpreted the mosque's destruction as ISIL's "final act of angry defiance before finally losing their grip on Mosul".

Reconstruction

On April 23, 2018,

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...

(UAE) pledged to reconstruct the mosque. The UAE will provide 50.4 million to fund the reconstruction project with a joint collaboration between the UAE,

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

, Iraq's culture ministry, and the

International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property The International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) is an intergovernmental organization dedicated to the preservation of cultural heritage worldwide through training, information, research, co ...

(ICCROM). The project plan is the preservation of the square base of the leaning minaret as a memorial to the victims of ISIS as well as the construction of a replica which would be visible in the Mosul skyline. During the announcement, the UAE minister of Culture and Knowledge Development Noura Al Kaabi spoke at the Chatham House in central London and stated that "This is an initiative that defeats extremism in all its facets" and " don't want to allow the destruction of the past and the present". She hosted the first meeting of the joint committee in September 2018 in the UAE. The expected completion date of the planned reconstruction is in 2023. A foundation stone for the reconstruction was laid on 17 December 2018. In April 2021, it was announced that a group of eight Egyptian architects have won a competition to reconstruct the mosque, from among 123 entries. The winning entry has been criticized as resembling Persian Gulf architecture more than traditional architecture in Mosul.

References

External links

* {{Mosques in Iraq Mosques in Mosul Demolished buildings and structures in Iraq Destroyed mosques Inclined towers 12th-century mosques Buildings and structures destroyed by ISIL Buildings and structures demolished in 2017 Religious buildings and structures completed in 1173 Brick buildings and structures Sunni mosques in Iraq