Al-Arba'een Mosque
| Al-Arba'een Mosque | |
|---|---|
 Al-Arba'een Mosque before the destruction by ISIL in 2014. | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Sunni Islam |
| Ecclesiastical or organisational status | Mosque |
| Patron | Amr ibn Jundab Al-Ghafari |
| Status | Under reconstruction work |
| Location | |
| Location | Tikrit, Iraq |
| Geographic coordinates | 34°35′56″N 43°40′34″E / 34.59889°N 43.67611°E |
| Architecture | |
| Type | Islamic architecture |
| Demolished | 2014 |
| Specifications | |
| Minaret(s) | 0 |
| Shrine(s) | 2 |
Al-Arba'een Mosque (Arabic: جامع الأربعين شهيداً) was a historic mosque in the city of Tikrit, Iraq. It contained a shrine for Amr ibn Jundab Al-Ghafari, and another shrine for Sitt Nafisa.[1]
History[edit]
The building dates back to the 5th century AH.[1] The name of the mosque, "Al-Arba'een" (The Forty), is derived[2] from a belief that forty martyrs killed during an Islamic conquest of Tikrit[3] were buried under the mosque, although this claim is contested as reports of the forty graves are weak.[1]
The building was used as an Islamic university in 1262 AD.[4]
Construction[edit]
The mosque building was a square shape, with five domes. Each side was approximately forty-seven meters long.[1] Its dimensions are 36.5 x 35.5 meters.[2] Gravel and plaster were mostly used to construct the building[1] and the two venerated rooms are ten meters tall.[1]
One of these venerated rooms was a shrine that contained a tomb of Amr ibn Jundab Al-Ghafari,[3] a companion of the Rashidun caliph Umar ibn Al-Khattab. There was also a cellar in the building which is believed by locals to house the resting place of a female saint, Sitt Nafisa.[5]
Demolition[edit]
The mosque was destroyed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in 2014 by explosives.[4] The explosion completely destroyed the shrines but did not damage the rest of the mosque. The surrounding cemetery was damaged.
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f الأحمدي, مصطفى. "عبد الله بن المعتم وعمرو بن جندب الغفاري أبرز المدفونين فيه.. ما قصة مزار الأربعين صحابيا في تكريت؟". www.aljazeera.net (in Arabic). Retrieved 2022-06-07.
- ^ a b تكريت, مدونة (July 19, 2013). تكريت: مزار الاربعين في تكريت الموقع و التاريخ. تكريت. Retrieved 2022-06-07.
- ^ a b "بالصور .. تحفة إسلامية تحتضن مرقد صحابي تعاني الإهمال في تكريت". قناه السومرية العراقية (in Arabic). Retrieved 2022-06-07.
- ^ a b "ISIS destroys shrine in Iraq amid U.S. strikes". Al Arabiya English. 2014-09-25. Retrieved 2022-06-07.
- ^ "موسوعة شذرات المطر ..مدونة المهندس رائد جعفر مطر : مزار الاربعين ولي في تكريت". موسوعة شذرات المطر ..مدونة المهندس رائد جعفر مطر. 25 February 2019. Retrieved 2022-06-09.