Safir Mosque ( or ) is an old 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 ...

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

. It is located inside 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 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 ...

inscribed

medina quarter A medina (from ) is a historical district in a number of North African cities, often corresponding to an old walled city. The term comes from the Arabic word simply meaning "city" or "town". Historical background Prior to the rise and intrusi ...

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 ...

. The design follows the Moorish architecture.

Etymology

The mosque was initially called as Jami Caid Safar bin Abdullah, but later it was renamed to Safir Mosque or Jami Safir after around 18th century. Safir of the name is considered as Safar bin Abdullah. Safar was originally a Christian slave who converted to Islam, learned Arabic and memorized the entire Qur'an; then freed and promoted general by

Hayreddin Barbarossa Hayreddin Barbarossa (, original name: Khiḍr; ), also known as Hayreddin Pasha, Hızır Hayrettin Pasha, and simply Hızır Reis (c. 1466/1483 – 4 July 1546), was an Ottoman corsair and later admiral of the Ottoman Navy. Barbarossa's ...

History

The mosque was completed in 1534, in the place few meters away from the Mosque-Zawiya of Sidi Muhammad Sharif. The mosque was constructed on a land where was newly included into the medina after the establishment of new city walls in order to expand the quarter. The construction date is recorded in the book available in the mosque; the groundbreaking was in

Rajab Rajab () is the seventh month of the Islamic calendar. The lexical definition of the classical Arabic verb ''rajaba'' is "to respect", which could also mean "be awe or be in fear", of which Rajab is a derivative. This month is regarded as one ...

of 940 AH, and the completion is the second of

Rabi' al-awwal Rabiʽ al-Awwal (, also known as Rabi' al-Ula (), or Rabi' I) is the third month of the Islamic calendar. The name ''Rabī‘ al-awwal'' means "''the first month'' or ''beginning of Spring (season), spring''", referring to its position in the ...

in 941 AH, roughly equal to the 11 of September in 1534, which means the construction took nine months.القصبة ..الموروث الذي يروي تاريخ الجزائر مع الحضارات العريقة
''Ennahar Online''. Retrieved January 28, 2018.

Notable Imams

References

{{Regency of Algiers topics Mosques completed in the 1530s Casbah of Algiers Ottoman mosques in Algeria Religious buildings and structures completed in 1534 Sunni mosques in Africa

Etymology

History

Notable Imams

See also

References