The Mohammed V Mosque () is a large mosque in

Tangier Tangier ( ; , , ) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The city is the capital city, capital of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, as well as the Tangier-Assilah Prefecture of Moroc ...

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 ...

, completed in 1983. It was erected on the initiative of then Crown Prince Mohammed of Morocco, now King Mohammed VI, and named after his grandfather Mohammed V who had given a historic address in Tangier in 1947. Funding for the mosque's construction was provided from

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

, and acknowledged by the renaming of the square in front of the mosque as . According to local lore, a visiting Kuwaiti

sheikh Sheikh ( , , , , ''shuyūkh'' ) is an honorific title in the Arabic language, literally meaning "elder (administrative title), elder". It commonly designates a tribal chief or a Muslim ulama, scholar. Though this title generally refers to me ...

had been displeased by the fact that the bell tower of the nearby

Catholic Cathedral The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

dominated the skyline of that part of Tangier, and offered financing so that a Muslim tower would surpass it. Be that as it may, the Mohammed V Mosque's

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 ...

is the tallest in Tangier. The mosque complex also includes the seat of the regional

Ulama In Islam, the ''ulama'' ( ; also spelled ''ulema''; ; singular ; feminine singular , plural ) are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam. "Ulama ...

council, a theological institute and boarding school named after , the local delegation of the Moroccan Ministry of

Habous A (; , plural ), also called a (, plural or ), or ''mortmain'' property, is an inalienable charitable endowment under Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot of land or other assets for Muslim religious or charit ...

& Islamic Affairs, and a library.

References

Mosques in Tangier Tourist attractions in Tangier Mosques completed in 1983 20th-century religious buildings and structures in Morocco 20th-century mosques in Africa Architecture in Morocco {{Morocco-mosque-stub

See also

References