Sidi Ramadan Mosque () is a historic mosque in the city of

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

. The mosque is located in the

Casbah of Algiers The Casbah of Algiers, commonly referred to as the Casbah (Arabic: القصبة, Al-qaṣabah, meaning "citadel"), corresponds to the old town or Medina quarter, medina of Algiers, the capital of Algeria. It is a historic district that has been l ...

. It has an area size of 400 square meters and the

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 ...

reaches 32 meters high. The mosque is a part of the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

''Casbah of Algiers''.

Etymology

The mosque is named after Sidi Ramadan, one of the soldiers who participated in the

Early Muslim conquests The early Muslim conquests or early Islamic conquests (), also known as the Arab conquests, were initiated in the 7th century by Muhammad, the founder of Islam. He established the first Islamic state in Medina, Arabian Peninsula, Arabia that ...

of North Africa, led by

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 ...

. After the conquest of Algiers, Ramadan was assigned by Uqba as a chief of the city. He was buried in the pillar of the mosque after his death. Another account of the naming origin tells that Sidi Ramadan was a generous

wali The term ''wali'' is most commonly used by Muslims to refer to a saint, or literally a "friend of God".John Renard, ''Friends of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood'' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008); John ...

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 ...

. Sheikh Abdurrahman al-Gilani tells in his work that the actual name of the mosque was ''Al-Qaid Ramadan Mosque'', and mentions the name of Ibn al-Mufta who contributed greatly to the foundation.

History

The date of the mosque's foundation is not known exactly, but it is known that it at least predates the Ottoman period of the city.

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 ...

, a 20th-century French archeologist, suggested that its foundation could be roughly contemporary with the late 11th-century Great Mosque of Algiers, founded by the

Almoravids The Almoravid dynasty () was a Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire that stretched over the western Maghreb and Al-Andalus, starting in the 1050s and lasting until its fall to the Almo ...

. Algerian newspaper al-Hiwar, after interviewing local experts and staff at the mosque, reported that current available information dates its foundation to the 10th or 11th century. The mosque is located at the upper part of the city, and constituted the old border of the

Casbah A kasbah (, also ; , , Maghrebi Arabic: ), also spelled qasbah, qasba, qasaba, or casbah, is a fortress, most commonly the citadel or fortified quarter of a city. It is also equivalent to the term in Spanish (), which is derived from the same ...

(citadel or kasbah) when the city was controlled by

Amazigh Berbers, or the Berber peoples, also known as Amazigh or Imazighen, are a diverse grouping of distinct ethnic groups indigenous to North Africa who predate the arrival of Arabs in the Maghreb. Their main connections are identified by their u ...

rulers.مسجد سيدي رمضان صرح ديني…ومعلم أثري…يقاوم عواصف الزمن
''El Hiwardz''. Retrieved January 6, 2018. The mosque was designated as the National Heritage of Algeria in 1904. It was also inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage Site List as a part of the Casbah of Algiers in 1992.
''El Mihwar''. Retrieved January 6, 2018.

Architecture

The mosque has a relatively simple form, with a hypostyle prayer hall divided by rows of arches supported by columns. Along three outer edges of the hall are elevated galleries or balconies that serve as the women's section for prayers. The mosque's attached minaret has ''

sebka ''Sebka'' () refers to a type of decorative motif used in western Islamic ("Moorish") architecture and Mudéjar architecture. History and description Various types of interlacing rhombus-like motifs are heavily featured on the surfaces of mi ...

'' decoration carved across its façades. The remains of Sidi Ramadan are housed in a small independent mausoleum next to the mosque.

Notable Imams

Mohamed Charef 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 ...

(1908-2011)

References

External links