SG : 2217
SCOTT : 1809
MI : 1541
Al-Azhar Mosque
Cairo - Islamic district - Al Azhar Mosque and University front
Exterior view of al-Azhar Mosque. From left to right the minarets of al-Ghuri, Qaytbay, Aqbaghawiyya, and Katkhuda
Marble paved interior courtyard added during the Fatimid period. Two Mamluk era minarets appear in the foreground. From left to right, the double-finial minaret of Qansah al-Ghuri and the minaret of Qaytbay. Behind the dome the top of Aqbaghawiyya minaret is visible. The minaret in the far background was built by Katkhuda
Prayer hall with columns used from various periods in Egyptian history
Keel shaped arches along the courtyard wall with stucco ornaments inscribed
Minaret above the Madrassa Aqbaghawiyya. Originally built during Mamluk rule as part of a stand-alone mosque, the minaret was remodeled by Katkhuda during the Ottoman period
Minaret of Qaytbay
Double finial minaret of Qansah al-Ghuri
Bab al-Muzayinīn (Gate of the Barbers)
Current mihrab and minbar in the main prayer hall
Al Azhar Mosque and University central courtyard
Al-Azhar Mosque (Arabic: الجامع الأزهر al-Gāmi` al-Azhar, "mosque of the most resplendent") is a mosque in Islamic Cairo in Egypt. Al-Mu‘izz li-Dīn Allāh of the Fatimid Caliphate commissioned its construction for the newly established capital city in 970. Its name is usually thought to allude to the Islamic prophet Muhammad´s daughter Fatimah, a revered figure in Islam who was given the title az-Zahrā′ ("the shining one"). It was the first mosque established in Cairo, a city that has since gained the nickname "the city of a thousand minarets.
After its dedication in 972, and with the hiring by mosque authorities of 35 scholars in 989, the mosque slowly developed into what is today the second oldest continuously run university in the world after Al Karaouine. Al-Azhar University has long been regarded as the foremost institution in the Islamic world for the study of Sunni theology and sharia, or Islamic law. The university, integrated within the mosque as part of a mosque school since its inception, was nationalized and officially designated an independent university in 1961, following the Egyptian Revolution of 1952.
Over the course of its over a millennium-long history, the mosque has been alternately neglected and highly regarded. Because it was founded as an Ismāʿīli institution, Saladin and the Sunni Ayyubid dynasty that he founded shunned al-Azhar, removing its status as a congregational mosque and denying stipends to students and teachers at its school. These moves were reversed under the Mamluk Sultanate, under whose rule numerous expansions and renovations took place. Later rulers of Egypt showed differing degrees of deference to the mosque and provided widely varying levels of financial assistance, both to the school and to the upkeep of the mosque. Today, al-Azhar remains a deeply influential institution in Egyptian society and a symbol of Islamic Egypt.
FROM WIKIPEDIA
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