Ahmed Ibn Tulun Mosque Cairo

Ibn Tulun Mosque Cairo

The Mosque of Ibn Tulun is located in Cairo, Egypt. It is one of the oldest mosques in Egypt as well as the whole of Africa surviving in its full original form, and is the largest mosque in Cairo in terms of land area.

It is built around an open square courtyard which allows natural light to travel through. The mosque of Ibn Tulun was commissioned by Ahmad Ibn Tulun (254–270 AH/868–884 AD), ‘Abbasid governor of Egypt, who in 266 AH\ 872 AD ruled Egypt as an independent state.

Construction began in 263 AH/876 AD, and finished in 265 AH/879 AD. Located on Jebal Yashkur (in modern-day Ahmad Ibn Tulun Square, Sayyida Zaynab), 

Ahmed Ibn Tulun Mosque was meant to serve as the main congregational mosque of Ibn Tulun’s new administrative capital, al-Qata’i. The building of this mosque was a further step in asserting Ahmad Ibn Tulun’s independence from the ʿAbbasid Caliphate.

The mosque is distinguished by its spiral minaret, which echoes the designs of the al-Abbas mosque in Samarra, Iraq. 

The arches and the windows of the mosque’s courtyard contain stucco designs of geometric and floral designs. A water fountain is positioned in the center of the courtyard, surmounted by a dome supported on marble columns. The interior of the mosque contains six mihrabs. 

The mihrab is a niche in the wall of a mosque that marks the qibla, the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca, which Muslims face during prayer. The main mihrab is hollow and elaborately decorated.