Sidi Mahrez Khelloua Mosque ( ar, مسجد خلوية سيدي محرز) is a

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

Location

This mosque is at 13 Sidi Ayed Street, in the Bab Jedid quarter of the city, south of the

Medina of Tunis The Medina of Tunis is the medina quarter of Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979. The Medina contains some 700 monuments, including palaces, mosques, mausoleums, madrasas and fountains dating from ...

Etymology

The mosque is named for its founder Abu Mohamed Mahrez Ibn Khalaf ( ar, أبو محمد محرز بن خلف) or

Sidi Mahrez Sidi Mahrez ben Khalaf or Abu Mohamed Mahrez ben Khalaf ben Zayn ( ar, سيدي محرز بن خلف; 951–1022) was a Tunisian Wali, scholar of the Maliki school of jurisprudence and a Qadi. He is considered to be the patron-saint of the city of ...

, who was also known as the "Sultan of the Medina". Khelloua is a Sufi word that refers to a place of isolation where an imam or a

cheikh Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of a ...

carries out his

invocation An invocation (from the Latin verb ''invocare'' "to call on, invoke, to give") may take the form of: *Supplication, prayer or spell. *A form of possession. *Command or conjuration. * Self-identification with certain spirits. These forms ...

which can last for days.Nouri Tayeb, Histoire d'El Bayadh, Raleigh, Lulu.com, 2014, 234 p. (), p. 203

History

According to the commemorative plaque, the mosque was built by

in the 10th century. Recently it got restored. Kelloua de Sidi Mahrez photo1 خلوة سيدي محرز بن خلف.jpg, The mosque after the restoration Kelloua de Sidi Mahrez photo3 خلوة سيدي محرز بن خلف.jpg, Commemorative plaque of the mosque Kelloua de Sidi Mahrez photo4 خلوة سيدي محرز بن خلف.jpg, Entrance of the mosque Kelloua de Sidi Mahrez photo5 خلوة سيدي محرز بن خلف.jpg, Minaret of the mosque

References

Mosques in Tunis 10th-century mosques {{Tunisia-mosque-stub