The Abdellah Ben Salem Mosque ( ar, مسجد عبد الله بن سلام) is a mosque in Oran, Algeria. Formerly the Great Synagogue of Oran (french: Grande synagogue d'Oran), it was the largest synagogue in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. Also known as ''Temple Israélite'', it was located on Boulevard Joffre, currently Boulevard Maata Mohamed El Habib.

History

Its construction began in 1879 at the initiative of Simon Kanoui, and took 38 years to complete. Once Algeria gained its independence in 1962, almost all Algerian Jews, who were considered French citizens since the

Crémieux Decree The Crémieux Decree () was a law that granted French citizenship to the majority of the Jewish population in French Algeria (around 35,000), signed by the Government of National Defense on 24 October 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War. It was ...

of 1870, relocated to France alongside the

Pied-Noir The ''Pieds-Noirs'' (; ; ''Pied-Noir''), are the people of French and other European descent who were born in Algeria during the period of French rule from 1830 to 1962; the vast majority of whom departed for mainland France as soon as Alger ...

community. In 1975, the synagogue was converted into a mosque and named after

Abdullah ibn Salam Abdullah ibn Salam ( ar, عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ سَلَامٍ, translit=ʿAbdullāh ibn Salām, lit=God's servant, the Son of Peace, links=), born Al-Husayn ibn Salam, was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and was a Jew ...

, a seventh-century Jew from

Medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the second-holiest city in Islam, and the capital of the ...

and companion of

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...

who converted to Islam.

Architecture

Its style shows

Neo-Mudéjar Neo-Mudéjar is a type of Moorish Revival architecture practised in the Iberian Peninsula and to a far lesser extent in Ibero-America. This architectural movement emerged as a revival of Mudéjar style. It was an architectural trend of the late ...

and

Moorish Revival Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of Romanticist Orientalism. It reached the height of its popularity after the mid-19th centu ...

influences.

References

External links

The Jewish Community of Oran , The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot
Former synagogues in Algeria Mosques converted from synagogues Orthodox Judaism in North Africa Orthodox synagogues Mosques completed in 1880 Synagogues completed in 1880 Mosques in Oran Sephardi Jewish culture in North Africa Sephardi synagogues 20th-century mosques 1880 establishments in Africa Moorish Revival synagogues {{Algeria-mosque-stub

History

Architecture

See also

References

External links