Al-Azhar Mosque .. History, architecture and engineering (video)

Weather of Arabia - Islamic Cairo is the common name for the heart of the Egyptian capital , which dates back to the Middle Ages, and it is a significantly different part from the modern center of the country and the suburbs, as it includes more, the largest, and the most famous Islamic monuments, especially the monuments of the Fatimid caliphs who founded Cairo, and perhaps one of the most important historical monuments There are mosques, the most famous of which is Al-Azhar Mosque.

History of Al-Azhar Mosque

At the beginning of his reign, the mosque was known by the name of the city on which it was built, "Al-Mansuriya Mosque", then the name changed to the Cairo Mosque when the name of the city was changed, after which it was modified again to Al-Azhar Mosque .

Historians disagree about the reason for the renaming, but it is known that the Al-Azhar Mosque was built more than a thousand years ago, by the Islamic leader Jawhar al-Siqilli, by order of the Fatimid caliph al-Muizz li Din Allah in the middle of Ramadan in the year 359 AH, so that its construction would be completed after two years and opened during the month of Ramadan. From the year 361 AH.

Not only did Al-Azhar become one of the most important and famous mosques in Egypt, but also in the entire Islamic world, and not only that, but it is the oldest university in the world after Al-Qarawiyyin University in Morocco. It quickly became a destination for scholars from all over the Islamic world, and this has continued to this day.

Architecture and engineering of Al-Azhar Mosque

Here, arts and architecture mix between the Fatimid facilities and the influences of the Mamluks and the Ottomans later. The Fatimids built the mosque on a prayer hall with five corridors and a simple courtyard with three porticoes with marble columns and stucco influences from the Abbasids, Byzantines and Copts, in addition to a brick minaret that does not remain standing today.

The Ayyubid state came and neglected the Al-Azhar Mosque later, but the Mamluks restored its prestige and built schools and many renovations, such as modifying the mihrab, adding the Gate of the Soldier, and building minarets represented in the minaret of Qaitbay, and then the double-headed minaret of al-Ghuri.

The size of the Al-Azhar Mosque doubled with the advent of the Ottomans, who added a prayer hall with a new mihrab, three doors, and many porticoes.