The Zawiya of Sidi Taoudi Ben Souda (also spelled Zawiya of Sidi Tawdi ibn Suda) is a zawiya (religious complex) and mosque in Fes el-Bali, the old

medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...

Fes Fez or Fes (; ar, فاس, fās; zgh, ⴼⵉⵣⴰⵣ, fizaz; french: Fès) is a city in northern inland Morocco and the capital of the Fès-Meknès administrative region. It is the second largest city in Morocco, with a population of 1.11 mi ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. It is named after Muḥammad al-Tāwdī Ibn al-Ṭālib Ibn Sūda al-Murrī (died 1795), an 18th-century

Sufi Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...

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 ...

who is considered by some to be one of the foremost intellectuals and Muslim scholars of Morocco's history. The zawiya is located off Zqaq Bghal street in the Souk Ben Safi neighbourhood. It consists mainly of a mosque, which includes a prayer hall with an inner courtyard ('' sahn''), an ablutions house, and a

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 ...

. The tomb of Sidi Taoudi Ben Souda is located along 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 (southeastern wall), marked by a wooden cenotaph. The mosque's ''mihrab'' is decorated with carved and painted

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

and is flanked on one side by two Arabic inscriptions on zellij tiles. The minaret's main shaft is 20.3 meters tall, while its secondary shaft or lantern is 4.3 meters tall.

References

Mosques in Fez, Morocco Sufism in Morocco Mausoleums in Morocco {{Morocco-mosque-stub