JAMI' UQBA IBN NAFI'

KAIROUAN, TUNISIA Noor ur Rehman

INTRODUCTON
Jami' Uqba Ibn Nafi', or the Great Mosque of Kairouan, is located in
the historic walled district of the Medina, between the Rue de la
Kasbah and the Rue el Farabi. The mosque, as it stands today, was
built by the Aghlabid governor of Kairouan, Ziyadat Allah, between
817 and 838. He erected the building on the site of an older mosque,
originally constructed by Uqba ibn Nafi at the time of the 670 AD
Arab conquest of Byzantine North Africa. Although the current
mosque retains virtually no trace of the original seventh century
building, it is still generally referred to as "Mosque of Sidi Uqba,"
or,"Mosque of Uqba Ibn Nafi." Historically, it has been accorded great
significance as the first mosque in the first town of Islam in the West.
SITE LOCATION
THE PLAN OF
MOSQUE
ARCHITECTURE LAYOUT
Slightly irregular in shape, the complex measures about 70 by 125
meters and is aligned northwest-southeast. It consists of an arcaded
rectangular courtyard with the prayer hall to its southeast, preceded
by a seventeen-bay portico. A slightly tapering minaret that is square
in plan and three stories high adjoins the northwest wing of the
courtyard, slightly off center. The courtyard is entered from six
portals, facing northeast and southwest. The prayer hall is entered
from the courtyard, as well as from two sheltered doorways from the
side. The sanctuary is a hypostyle hall, with arcades emphasized in a
T formation characteristic of the region (the "T" is formed by the qibla
wall and the longitudinal axis). It is seventeen bays wide and seven
bays deep. The roof is flat, with the exception of two domes, one
above the mihrab (dating from 836) and one above the entry bay of
the portico (reconstructed in the nineteenth century after its 856
form).
 Panoramic view of the Great
Mosque of Kairouan, from the
right to the left, the prayer
hall (with domes), the
courtyard and the minaret

Interior view of the

hypostyle prayer hall in
the Mosque of Uqba
(Great Mosque of
Kairouan)
Wall and porches
on the west facade
(south side)
THE COURTYARD IS A VAST TRAPEZOIDAL AREA WHOSE INTERIOR
DIMENSIONS ARE APPROXIMATELY 67 BY 52 METRES.IT IS
SURROUNDED ON ALL ITS FOUR SIDES BY A PORTICO WITH DOUBLE
ROWS OF ARCHES, OPENED BY SLIGHTLY HORSESHOE ARCHES
SUPPORTED BY COLUMNS IN VARIOUS MARBLES, IN GRANITE OR IN
PORPHYRY, REUSED FROM ROMAN, EARLY CHRISTIAN OR BYZANTINE
MONUMENTS PARTICULARLY FROM CARTHAGE.

COURTYAR
D
The two-bay-deep arcade flanking the courtyard is a later
addition, and consists of horseshoe arches resting on
rectangular pillars fronted by twin columns. Until the end
of the nineteenth century, the courtyard was covered with
uniform pottery tiles, but today it is paved with white and
yellow marble. The complex wall is heavily buttressed on
the exterior.
 DETAILS OF THE COURTYARD

Detail of arches and columns Focus on the rainwater collecting basin

Focus on one well of the courtyard
of the north portico of the
courtyard
MINARET
The minaret, which occupies the centre of the
northern façade of the complex's enclosure, is 31.5
metres tall and is seated on a square base of 10.7
metres on each side.
It is located inside the enclosure and does not have
direct access from the outside. It consists of three
tapering levels, the last of which is topped with a
small ribbed dome that was most probably built
later than the rest of the tower.
The first and second stories are surmounted by
rounded merlons which are pierced by arrow slits.
The minaret served as a watchtower, as well as to
call the faithful to prayer.
 The door giving access to the
minaret is framed by
a lintel and jambs made of recycled
carved friezes of antique origin

The interior includes a staircase of 129 steps, surmounted by a

barrel vault, which gives access to the terraces and the first
tier of the minaret. The courtyard façade (or south façade) of
the tower is pierced with windows that provide light and
ventilation, while the other three façades—facing north, east
and west—are pierced with small openings in the form of
arrowslits.The minaret, in its present aspect, dates largely from
the early ninth century, about 836 AD. It is the oldest minaret in
the Muslim world, and it is also the world's oldest minaret still
standing.
 DOMES
The Mosque has several domes, the largest
being over the mihrab and the entrance to the
prayer hall from the courtyard. The dome of the
mihrab is based on an octagonal drum with
slightly concave sides, raised on a square base,
decorated on each of its three southern, Easter
and western faces with five flat-bottomed niches
surmounted by five semi-circular arches, the
niche in the middle is cut by a
lobed oculus enrolled in a circular frame. This
dome, whose construction goes back to the first
half of the ninth century (towards 836), is one of The dome over the mihrab (9th century)
the oldest and most remarkable domes in the
western Islamic world.
 PRAYER HALL
The prayer hall is located on the southern
side of the courtyard; and is accessed by 17
carved wooden doors. A portico with double
row of arches precede the spacious prayer
hall, which takes the shape of a rectangle of
70.6 metres in width and 37.5 metres'
depth.
The hypostyle hall is divided into 17 aisles
of eight bays, the central nave is wider, as
well as the bay along the wall of the qibla.
They cross with right angle in front of the
mihrab, this device, named "T shape", which
is also found in two Iraqi mosques in
Samarra (around 847) has been adopted in
many North African and Andalusian mosques
The central nave, a sort of triumphal
alley which leads to the mihrab, is
significantly higher and wider than the
other sixteen aisles of the prayer hall. It
is bordered on each side of a double row
of arches rested on twin columns and
surmounted by a carved plaster
decoration consisting of floral and
geometric patterns.

Close view of the

upper part of the
main door of the
prayer hall

One of the
seventeen carved-
wood doors of the
prayer hall
MIHRAB
The mihrab, which indicates the Qibla
(direction of Mecca), in front of which stands
the imam during the prayer, is located in the
middle of the southern wall of the prayer hall.
It is formed by an oven-shaped niche framed
by two marble columns and topped by a
painted wooden half-cupola. The niche of the
mihrab is two metres long, 4.5 metres high
and
 The1.6 metres
mosque's deep.
mihrab, whose decor is a remarkable
witness of Muslim art in the early centuries of Islam, is
distinguished by its harmonious composition and the
quality of its ornaments. Considered as the oldest
example of concave mihrab, it dates in its present state
to 862–863 AD.
COLUMNS AND CEILING
In the prayer hall, the 414 columns of marble, granite or porphyry
(among more than 500 columns in the whole mosque), taken from
ancient sites in the country such as Sbeitla, Carthage, Hadrumetum
and Chemtou, support the horseshoe arches. A legend says they
could not count them without going blind. The capitals resting on the
column shafts offer a wide variety of shapes and styles (Corinthian,
Ionic, Composite, etc.). Some capitals were carved for the mosque,
but others come from Roman or Byzantine buildings (dating from the
second to sixth century) and were reused.
According to the German archaeologist Christian Ewert, the special
arrangement of reused columns and capitals surrounding the mihrab
obeys to a well-defined program and would draw symbolically the
plan of the Dome of the Rock.
COLUMNS AND CEILING
The covering of the prayer hall consists of painted ceilings decorated
with vegetal motifs and two domes: one raised at the beginning of
the central nave and the other in front of the mihrab. The latter,
which its hemispherical cap is cut by 24 concave grooves radiating
around the top, is based on ridged horns shaped shell and a drum
pierced by eight circular windows which are inserted between sixteen
niches grouped by two. The niches are covered with carved stone
panels, finely adorned with characteristic geometric, vegetal and
floral patterns of the Aghlabid decorative repertoire: shells, cusped
arches, rosettes, vine-leaf, etc. From the outside, the dome of the
mihrab is based on an octagonal drum with slightly concave sides,
raised on a square base, decorated on each of its three southern,
Easter and western faces with five flat-bottomed niches surmounted
by five semi-circular arches, the niche in the middle is cut by a lobed
oculus enrolled in a circular frame.
Ancient
Corinthian
capitals

Partial view of the ceiling

of the prayer hall
At the time of its greatest splendor, between
the ninth and eleventh centuries AD, Kairouan
was one of the greatest centres of Islamic
civilisation and its reputation as a hotbed of
scholarship covered the entire Maghreb. During
this period, the Great Mosque of Kairouan was
both a place of prayer and a centre for teaching
Islamic sciences under the Maliki current. One
may conceivably compare its role to that of the
University of Paris during the Middle Ages.

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