Al – Azhar Mosque, Cairo Egypt, 972

Xiaoyu Zeng

ARCH161 – M21 LEC(2587)

Al – Azhar Mosque, Cairo Egypt, 972

Hypostyle Mosque, Fatimid

Architect: It was designated initially ot teach Shi’ite jurisprudence (later Sunni)

Introduction:

The Mosque of al – Azhar, was the first to be built in the Fatimid city of Cairo, and also is the oldest and biggest Islamic university in the Islamic world, attracting students from a multiplicity of nations. It is arguably one of the chief centres Islamic learning and the greatest and the most influential in the Sunni Islamic world. Although the patron is the Fatimid Caliph al- Muizz li Din Allah , however, now the structure of building is not the original Fatimid mosque. 

                                          

It is the one of the important place for Islamic and Arabic learning in the world, the complex of Al- Azhar centred on the mosque of that name n the medieval quarter of Cairo, Egypt. 

Layout and structure: 

The name of present main entrance is Bab al-Muzayinīn, which opens into the white marble – paved courtyard at the opposite end of the main prayer hall. The northeast courtyard of the Bab al-Muzayinīn is franked by the façade of the Madrasa al – Aqbaghawiyya; the southwestern end of the courtyard leads to the Madrasa al-Taybarsiyya. Directly across the courtyard from the entrance to the Bab al-Muzayinīn is the Bab al-Gindi (Gate of Qaytbay), built in 1495, above which stands the minaret of Qaytbay.^[93] Through this gate lies the courtyard of the prayer hall.

Reference : 

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Azhar_Mosque

2. http://www.discoverislamicart.org/database_item.php?id=monument;isl;eg;mon01;3;en

3. http://www.muslimheritage.com/article/al-azhar-university