The As-Sunna Mosque or Assounna Mosque (among other similar spellings; ) is a large

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

in central

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ) is the Capital (political), capital city of Morocco and the List of cities in Morocco, country's seventh-largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan population of over 1.2 million. ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

. It is one of the largest mosques in Morocco.

History

The mosque was founded by the 'Alawi sultan Moulay Mohammed ben Abdallah (who briefly made Rabat his royal capital) and was completed in 1785. However, it was almost entirely restored in the 19th century. In 1969, on the occasion of King

Hassan II Hassan, Hasan, Hassane, Haasana, Hassaan, Asan, Hassun, Hasun, Hassen, Hasson or Hasani may refer to: People *Hassan (given name), Arabic given name and a list of people with that given name *Hassan (surname), Arabic, Jewish, Irish, and Scotti ...

's 40th birthday, the mosque was renovated again and its

minaret A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...

was moved from its original position at the northwest corner of the mosque and reconstructed "stone by stone" at the mosque's southwest corner, where it stands today, in order to enhance its perspective along the axis of Avenue Mohammed V.

Architecture

The mosque occupies a visually prominent position on Avenue Mohammed V, one of the main

boulevards A boulevard is a type of broad avenue (landscape), avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway or wide road in a commerce, commercial district. In Europe, boulevards were originally circumferential roads ...

of downtown Rabat. Just west and south of it is the

Royal Palace This is a list of royal palaces, sorted by continent. Africa Americas Asia Europe Oceania {, class="wikitable" width="95%" , - bgcolor="white" !align=center, Residence !align=center, Photo !align=center, City !align=cen ...

. The building has a nearly square floor plan measuring roughly 74 meters per side with a surface area of 5565 metres, making it the fourth largest historic mosque in Morocco. It has a relatively standard layout for a Moroccan mosque, featuring a large rectangular courtyard (''

sahn A ''sahn'' (, '), is a courtyard in Islamic architecture, especially the formal courtyard of a mosque. Most traditional mosques have a large central ''sahn'', which is surrounded by a ''Riwaq (arcade), riwaq'' or arcade (architecture), arcade on ...

'') surrounded by galleries and a prayer hall consisting of three main transverse aisles running parallel to the ''

qibla The qibla () is the direction towards the Kaaba in the Great Mosque of Mecca, Sacred Mosque in Mecca, which is used by Muslims in various religious contexts, particularly the direction of prayer for the salah. In Islam, the Kaaba is believed to ...

'' (southeastern) wall. At either end of the courtyard, aligned with the side entrances, are ornamental pavilions which recall a similar arrangement at the much older al-Qarawiyyin Mosque in

Fes Fez () or Fes (; ) is a city in northern inland Morocco and the capital of the Fez-Meknes administrative region. It is one of the largest cities in Morocco, with a population of 1.256 million, according to the 2024 census. Located to the nort ...

. The northern part of the mosque is occupied by additional rooms which once housed students. The minaret, featuring decorative motifs carved along its four facades, is located at the southwest corner but originally stood on its northwest corner. The mosque has multiple ornamental gateways and traditional Moroccan decoration inside. File:Sunna mosque minaret DSCF6896.jpg, The

of the mosque. File:Rabat. Mosque entrance. 1972 (37707979726).jpg, One of the mosque's main entrances. File:Rabat - As-Sunna Mosque (Rabat) - 20131126125511.jpg, The courtyard of the mosque File:Rabat - As-Sunna Mosque (Rabat) - 20131214135243.jpg, View inside the prayer hall

References

External links

Al-Sunna Mosque at Qantara-med.org
(includes photos of the mosque's interior and exterior)
Images of al-Sunna Mosque
in Manar al-Athar digital photo archive {{Rabat Mosques in Rabat 'Alawi architecture

History

Architecture

See also

References

External links