Shitta-Bey Mosque is a

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 ...

, religious learning centre and one of the oldest mosques in Southern

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. The mosque is located at Martins Ereko Street,

Lagos Island Lagos Island () is the principal and central Local government areas of Nigeria, Local Government Area (LGA) in Lagos, Nigeria. It was the capital of Lagos State until 1957. It is part of the Lagos Division. As of the preliminary 2006 Nigerian ce ...

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

, Nigeria. It was established in 1892 and designated as National monument by Nigerian Commission for Museums and Monuments in 2013. The mosque, considered one of the most important historical legacies of Nigeria, Shitta-Bey Mosque was named after its founder

Sierra Leonean The demographics of Sierra Leone are made up of an indigenous population from 18 ethnic groups. The Temne in the north and the Mende in the south are the largest. About 60,000 are Krio, the descendants of freed slaves who returned to Sierra L ...

-born Nigerian,

Mohammed Shitta Bey Chieftain, Chief Mohammed Shitta-Bey (19 December 1824 – 4 July 1895), alias Olowo Pupa, was the first titled Seriki Musulumi (Nigerian chieftaincy system, a Nigerian chieftain) of Lagos. He was a prominent Nigerian Muslim businessman, aristocr ...

, who was an aristocrat, philanthropist and businessman.

History

The construction of the mosque started in 1891 and was financed by

, a businessman and philanthropist, son of

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

-born parents of Yoruba descent. A Brazilian architect João Baptista da Costa oversaw the construction which was done with tile-work depicting the Afro-Brazilian architecture. The Shitta-Bey Mosque launched on July 4, 1894, at a ceremony presided over by Governor of Lagos, Sir Gilbert Carter. Others in attendance included Oba

Oyekan I Oba Oyekan I (died September 30, 1900) reigned as the Lagos Monarch from March 1885 - September 30, 1900. He ascended the throne about a month after the death of his father Oba Dosunmu. Prince Oyekan vs. Chief Apena Ajasa incident In 1883, Oba ...

Edward Wilmot Blyden Edward Wilmot Blyden (3 August 1832 – 7 February 1912) was an Americo-Liberian educator, writer, diplomat, and politician who was primarily active in West Africa. Born in the Danish West Indies, he joined the waves of Americo-Liberians ...

Abdullah Quilliam William Henry Quilliam (10 April 1856 – 23 April 1932), who changed his name to Abdullah Quilliam and later Henri Marcel Leon or Haroun Mustapha Leon, was a 19th-century British convert from Christianity to Islam, noted for founding England's ...

(who represented Sultan

Abdul Hamid II Abdulhamid II or Abdul Hamid II (; ; 21 September 184210 February 1918) was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1876 to 1909, and the last sultan to exert effective control over the fracturing state. He oversaw a Decline and modernizati ...

of the Ottoman Empire), and prominent Lagosian Christians such as James Pinson Labulo Davies, John Otunba Payne, and

Richard Beale Blaize Richard Beale Blaize (November 22, 1845 – September 21, 1904) was a Nigerian-Sierra Leonean businessman, newspaper publisher, financier, and black nationalist of Sierra Leonean and Nigerian heritage. Early life Richard Olamilege Blaize was bor ...

as well as foreign representatives. Quilliam brought a letter accredited to the Sultan of Turkey asking Lagos Muslims to embrace Western education. It was at the launch that Mohammed Shitta was honored with the "

Bey Bey, also spelled as Baig, Bayg, Beigh, Beig, Bek, Baeg, Begh, or Beg, is a Turkic title for a chieftain, and a royal, aristocratic title traditionally applied to people with special lineages to the leaders or rulers of variously sized areas in ...

" title, the Ottoman Order of Medjidie 3rd class (the highest class for a civilian) by Sultan

. Thereafter, Mohammed Shitta became known by the compounded name Shitta-Bey.

Gallery of Shitta-bay Mosque

File:Shitta-Bey Mosque.jpg File:Shitta Bey Mosque.jpg File:Shitta Bey Mosque, Lagos Island, Lagos.jpg

Bibliography

References

{{coord, 6.45773, 3.38656, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:NG, display=title Mosques completed in the 1890s Religious buildings and structures completed in 1894 Mosques in Lagos Monuments and memorials in Lagos Landmarks in Lagos 1894 establishments in Lagos Colony Afro-Brazilian architecture 19th-century religious buildings and structures in Nigeria 19th-century mosques in Africa