The Abd Allah ibn al-Abbas Mosque () is a historic

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

located in the city of

Taif Taif (, ) is a city and governorate in Mecca Province in Saudi Arabia. Located at an elevation of in the slopes of the Hijaz Mountains, which themselves are part of the Sarat Mountains, the city has a population of 563,282 people in 2022, mak ...

within the

Mecca Province Mecca Province (, ), officially Makkah Province, is one of the 13 provinces of Saudi Arabia. It is the third-largest province by area at and the most populous with a population of 8,557,766 as of 2017, of which 4,041,189 were foreign nationals ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. The mosque is named after

Ibn Abbas ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās (; c. 619 – 687 CE), also known as Ibn ʿAbbās, was one of the cousins of the Prophets and messengers in Islam, prophet Muhammad. He is considered to be the greatest Tafsir#Conditions, mufassir of the Quran, Qur'an. ...

, who is buried within the grounds of the mosque.

History

The original mosque was constructed in 630

Common Era Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the ...

, at the site where a demolished temple, the Kaaba-type shrine of the goddess

al-Lat Al-Lat (, ), also spelled Allat, Allatu, and Alilat, is a pre-Islamic Arabian goddess, at one time worshipped under various associations throughout the entire Arabian Peninsula, including Mecca, where she was worshipped alongside Al-Uzza and ...

once stood. Another tradition relates that the mosque is also built over a site where the Islamic prophet

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

prayed. Either way, the construction of the mosque is dated to and is contemporary to the life of Muhammad. A cemetery for the martyrs of those in the siege of Banu Thaqif was established in the same year, on the eastern side of the mosque. The youngest cousin of Muhammad and early Islamic scholar,

, was buried at the cemetery in 687, followed by the burial of the fourth Kaysani leader,

Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya (, , 15–81 AH) was a son of Ali ibn Abi Talib, who was the fourth caliph in Sunni Islam () and the first imam in Shia Islam. Ibn al-Hanafiyya was an effective lieutenant for his father Ali during his caliphate. Aft ...

in the year 700.

Abbasid period

During the reign of the

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 C ...

caliph

Al-Mustadi Abu Muhammad Hasan ibn Yusuf al-Mustanjid (; 1142 – 27 March 1180) usually known by his regnal title al-Mustadi () was the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad from 1170 to 1180. He succeeded his father al-Mustanjid. Biography Al-Mustadi was the son of ...

, the mosque was rebuilt and then renamed in the name of

. A domed mausoleum was then constructed around the grave of Ibn Abbas. Subsequent renovations defined the shape of the mosque and is the basis of the present-day structure.

Mamluk period

The adjoining cemetery was in use until the rule of the

Mamluk Sultanate The Mamluk Sultanate (), also known as Mamluk Egypt or the Mamluk Empire, was a state that ruled Egypt, the Levant and the Hejaz from the mid-13th to early 16th centuries, with Cairo as its capital. It was ruled by a military caste of mamluks ...

when

Zayd ibn Muhsin Zayd ibn Muḥsin ibn Ḥusayn ibn Ḥasan ibn Abī Numayy () was an Emir of Mecca from 29 August 1631 to 17 March 1632 and then from 24 June 1632 to 6 July 1666, and the ancestor of the Dhawu Zayd clan. Early life Zayd was born on Monday morning, ...

, the

Sharif of Mecca The Sharif of Mecca () was the title of the leader of the Sharifate of Mecca, traditional steward of the Holiest sites in Islam, Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina. The term ''sharif'' is Arabic for "noble", "highborn", and is used to desc ...

under the Mamluks, forbade any more burials at the site in 1661, as the capacity of the cemetery was almost full. In 1671, a wall was built which separated the cemetery and Ibn Abbas' tomb from the mosque building.

Ottoman period and later Saudi rule

In 1813, the Swiss traveller

Johann Ludwig Burckhardt Johann Ludwig (also known as John Lewis, Jean Louis) Burckhardt (24 November 1784 – 15 October 1817) was a Swiss traveller, geographer and Orientalist. Burckhardt assumed the alias ''Sheikh Ibrahim Ibn Abdallah'' during his travels in Arabia ...

, who was visiting the Arabian Peninsula just after the takeover of the city by

Muhammad Ali Pasha Mehmed Ali Pasha may refer to: * Muhammad Ali of Egypt (1769–1849), considered the founder of modern Egypt * Çerkes Mehmed Pasha (died 1625), Ottoman statesman and grand vizier * Mehmed Emin Âli Pasha (1815–1871), Ottoman statesman and gra ...

, described the mosque as being in ruin, while the domed mausoleum over Ibn Abbas' tomb had been destroyed by the

Wahhabis Wahhabism is an exonym for a Salafi revivalist movement within Sunni Islam named after the 18th-century Hanbali scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. It was initially established in the central Arabian region of Najd and later spread to other ...

. In the later years of the Ottoman rule, the mausoleum was repaired with a new wooden cenotaph over the grave and an iron

zarih A zarih (, , ) or ḍarīḥ () is a lattice structure which usually encloses a grave in a mosque or an Islamic shrine. In some cases, it can also surround a religious relic on display. A zarih is built by skilled craftsmen. It can be made out ...

built around the grave. After

Ibn Saud Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud (; 15 January 1875Ibn Saud's birth year has been a source of debate. It is generally accepted as 1876, although a few sources give it as 1880. According to British author Robert Lacey's book ''The Kingdom'', ...

had taken control of the whole of Saudi Arabia, the mausoleums that still existed in his territory, including Mecca and Medina, were demolished. The mosque and mausoleum were demolished and then rebuilt in 1958, this time the grave was returned to its original state without a dome over it.

References

{{Mosques in Saudi Arabia 1958 establishments in Saudi Arabia 7th-century mosques 20th-century mosques in Saudi Arabia Islamic architecture in Asia Mosque buildings with minarets in Saudi Arabia Mosques completed in 1958 Mosques in At-Ta'if Sunni mosques in Saudi Arabia

History

Abbasid period

Mamluk period

Ottoman period and later Saudi rule

See also

References