The al-Asha'ir Mosque (), is an ancient

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 ...

in the historic city of

Zabid Zabid () (also spelled Zabīd, Zabeed and Zebid) is a town with an urban population of around 52,590 people, located on Yemen's western coastal plain. It is one of the oldest towns in Yemen, and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993. Ho ...

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

, a

UNESCO World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

History

The mosque is believed to be the oldest in the city. There is disagreement among sources as to whether the mosque was first built by

Abu Musa al-Ash'ari Abu Musa Abd Allah ibn Qays al-Ash'ari (), better known as Abu Musa al-Ash'ari () (died c. 662 or 672) was a companion of Muhammad and an important figure in early Islamic history. He was at various times governor of Basra and Kufa and was involv ...

, a ''

sahabi The Companions of the Prophet () were the Muslim disciples and followers of the Islamic prophet Muhammad who saw or met him during his lifetime. The companions played a major role in Muslim battles, society, hadith narration, and governance ...

'' or companion of 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 ...

(7th century). According to historian Noha Sadek, the current mosque is said to have been built by the Ziyadid ruler al-Husayn ibn Salamah (), who was also responsible for building the city's main Great Mosque. Both of these mosques became centers of Islamic scholarship after their construction.

Architecture

The mosque occupies a rectangular area (50.35 x 50.24 m) and contains an open ''

sahn A ''sahn'' (, '), is a courtyard in Islamic architecture, especially the formal courtyard of a mosque. Most traditional mosques have a large central ''sahn'', which is surrounded by a ''Riwaq (arcade), riwaq'' or arcade (architecture), arcade on ...

'', or courtyard, measuring 11 x 5 square meters. Surrounded by four corridors, the

qibla The qibla () is the direction towards the Kaaba in the Great Mosque of Mecca, Sacred Mosque in Mecca, which is used by Muslims in various religious contexts, particularly the direction of prayer for the salah. In Islam, the Kaaba is believed to ...

can be accessed through the main gate located on the south side or through the mosque's other doors, which open directly to the qibla hallway. It is worth mentioning that the

mihrab ''Mihrab'' (, ', 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'' wall". ...

is not in the middle of the qibla wall. This is due to the repeated additions to the mosque: for example, a wooden platform inside the wall to the east of the mihrab, a pulpit dating back to the year 1542. The

minaret A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...

of the mosque is located above the southern hallway. It has a square base topped by an octagonal body adorned with

muqarnas Muqarnas (), also known in Iberian architecture as Mocárabe (from ), is a form of three-dimensional decoration in Islamic architecture in which rows or tiers of niche-like elements are projected over others below. It is an archetypal form of I ...

. The minaret is covered by a fortress dome on the top, which is a design common among minarets in Zabid. The mosque has a wooden chair that was dedicated to the reading of the

Prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divinity, divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings ...

Hadith Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...

and is still in the qibla hallway to this day since the date of its creation in the year 927. The Mosque of Al-Asha'ir also functioned as an Islamic university where students from all over Yemen and the Islamic world lived and studied.

References

{{Tourist attractions in Yemen Asha'ir

History

Architecture

See also

References