Sidi Okba Mosque (, ''Masjid Sīdī ʻUqbah'') is a historic mosque in

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

, located in the village of

Sidi Okba Sidi Okba () is a Communes of Algeria, commune in the Biskra Province, Algeria. It was named after the Muslim General Uqba ibn Nafi who died there in 683 AD. The nearest big city is Biskra which is located 18 km away. Sidi Okba sits on an oas ...

, near Biskra. The mausoleum was first established in 686 to house the remains of

Uqba ibn Nafi ʿUqba ibn Nāfiʿ ibn ʿAbd al-Qays al-Fihrī al-Qurashī (), also simply known as Uqba ibn Nafi (622 – 683), was an Arab general serving the Rashidun Caliphate since the reign of Umar and later the Umayyad Caliphate during the reigns of Mu'awi ...

, a

companion Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregive ...

of the Islamic prophet

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

and one of the prominent commanders of the

Muslim conquest of the Maghreb The conquest of the Maghreb by the Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphates commenced in 647 and concluded in 709, when the Byzantine Empire lost its last remaining strongholds to Caliph Al-Walid I. The North African campaigns were part of the century ...

, making it one of the oldest Muslim monuments in Algeria. The mosque was built around the tomb and has been renovated many times over the centuries.

Location

The mosque is located in the locality of

, 6 km south of the town of

Tabuda Tabuda, Thouda or Tahuda (former Roman Thabudeos) was a Roman–Berber colonia in the province of Numidia. A key town in the Roman, Byzantine and Vandal empires, it is identifiable with the stone ruins at the oasis adjacent to the village ...

and 10 km west of the city of

Biskra Biskra () is the capital city of Biskra Province, Algeria. In 2007, its population was recorded as 307,987. Biskra is located in northeastern Algeria, about from Algiers, southwest of Batna, Algeria, Batna and north of Touggourt. It is nickna ...

, on the National road number 38 toward the locality of Khenguet Sidi Nadji.

History

ʻUqbah ibn Nāfiʻ, on his return from the victorious

Battle of Vescera The Battle of Vescera (modern Biskra in Algeria) was fought in 682 or 683 between the Romano-Berbers of King Kusaila and their Byzantine allies from the Exarchate of Carthage against an Umayyad Arab army under Uqba ibn Nafi (the founder of Ka ...

in the

Atlas Mountains The Atlas Mountains are a mountain range in the Maghreb in North Africa. They separate the Sahara Desert from the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean; the name "Atlantic" is derived from the mountain range, which stretches around through M ...

, was killed by the army of the

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

Christian king Kusayla ibn Lamzah in an ambush outside the town of Thouda in 683. He was buried in the current village of

, and later the mosque was built on top of it for commemoration. It is not exactly recorded who built the mosque. Some consider that it was the followers of Uqba who were captured during the battle, and later redeemed by the judges in

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

from the prison. Commander

Zuhayr ibn Qays Zuhayr ibn Qays al-Balawī () (died 688) was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and an Arab commander who fought in the service of the Rashidun, Umayyad and Zubayrid caliphs. He played a key role in the early Muslim conquests of Egypt, ...

sent them back along with other Muslims to Thouda, where they built the mosque.مساجد لها تاريخ.. مسجد عقبة بن نافع بــبــسكرة في الجزائر
. ''Al-Bilad''. Retrieved January 9, 2018. The building was not constructed all at once and was likely remodeled and expanded several times. The tomb, the oldest part, probably dates to 686, making it one of the first known Muslim monuments in Algeria. The decorated cedar-wood doors of the tomb have been dated by

Georges Marçais Georges Marçais (Rennes, 11 March 1876 – Paris, 20 May 1962) was a French orientalist, historian, and scholar of Islamic art and architecture who specialized in the architecture of North Africa. Biography He initially trained as a painter a ...

the first half of the 11th century (circa 1025) during the

Zirid The Zirid dynasty (), Banu Ziri (), was a Sanhaja Berber dynasty from what is now Algeria which ruled the central Maghreb from 972 to 1014 and Ifriqiya (eastern Maghreb) from 972 to 1148. Descendants of Ziri ibn Manad, a military leader of th ...

period, based on a stylistic comparison with Zirid woodwork in the

Great Mosque of Kairouan The Great Mosque of Kairouan (), also known as the Mosque of Uqba (), is a mosque situated in the UNESCO World Heritage town of Kairouan, Tunisia and is one of the largest Islamic monuments in North Africa. Established by the Arab general U ...

and with contemporary inscriptions on stelae found in Tunisia. This likely indicates a major renovation at this time. A zawiya was added to the mosque in 1665. Other inscriptions found in the mosque likely indicate the dates of further repairs or expansions. One inscription dates the mosque's mihrab to 1214 AH (1799 AD) and another inscription on a wooden plaque gives the year 1215 AH (1800 AD). These inscriptions also name Muhammad ibn 'Umar al-Tunisi as the sponsor of the work.

Architecture

The mosque is irregularly shaped with 60 meters length and 37 meters width. It consists of three hallways and the main door at the south. The building is designed in very simple

hypostyle In architecture, a hypostyle () hall has a roof which is supported by columns. Etymology The term ''hypostyle'' comes from the ancient Greek ὑπόστυλος ''hypóstȳlos'' meaning "under columns" (where ὑπό ''hypó'' means below or und ...

manner, similar to the earliest mosque built by Muhammad in

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

. The mostly flat roof of the prayer hall is supported by undecorated horseshoe arches held up by

whitewash Whitewash, calcimine, kalsomine, calsomine, asbestis or lime paint is a type of paint made from slaked lime ( calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2) or chalk (calcium carbonate, CaCO3), sometimes known as "whiting". Various other additives are sometimes ...

ed columns, some of which are made of palm tree trunks. There are two domes: one above the mausoleum and the other in front of the

mihrab ''Mihrab'' (, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "''qibla'' wall". ...

. The mihrab is covered by a

semi-dome In architecture, a semi-dome (or half-dome) is a half dome that covers a semi-circular area in a building. Architecture Semi-domes are a common feature of apses in Ancient Roman and traditional church architecture, and in mosques and iwans in Isla ...

and is decorated with stucco carved in simple and irregular interlace patterns, including engaged columns with capitals carved with grooves and stylized palm-tree motifs. The mausoleum occupies the southwest corner of the mosque.

References

External links

Images of Sidi Okba Mosque
in Manar al-Athar digital heritage archive {{Mosques in Algeria 7th-century mosques Buildings and structures in Biskra Province Mosques in Algeria Umayyad architecture

Location

History

Architecture

See also

References

Further reading

External links