Zinder Mosque was a

mudbrick Mudbrick or mud-brick, also known as unfired brick, is an air-dried brick, made of a mixture of mud (containing loam, clay, sand and water) mixed with a binding material such as rice husks or straw. Mudbricks are known from 9000 BCE. From ...

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 ...

Zinder Zinder (locally, ''Damagaram''), formerly also spelled Sinder, is the third largest city in Niger, with a population of 235,605 as by the 2012 census. It is situated east of the capital Niamey and north of the Nigerian city of Kano. History ...

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

. Located in the Birni neighborhood of Zinder, it was one of Niger's oldest mosques and a significant cultural and religious site in Zinder. The mosque was destroyed on 3 September 2024, due to severe flooding in the central-eastern region of Niger.

History

Constructed in the mid-19th century, Zinder Mosque was an iconic structure for the local community. It was built using

banco Banco may refer to: Places * Banc (Barcelona Metro), also called Banco, a closed metro stop on the Barcelona metro * Banco, Virginia, an unincorporated community * Banco, West Virginia, an unincorporated community * Banco National Park, a nationa ...

, a traditional mixture of

mud Mud (, or Middle Dutch) is loam, silt or clay mixed with water. Mud is usually formed after rainfall or near water sources. Ancient mud deposits hardened over geological time to form sedimentary rock such as shale or mudstone (generally cal ...

and

straw Straw is an agricultural byproduct consisting of the dry wikt:stalk, stalks of cereal plants after the grain and chaff have been removed. It makes up about half of the crop yield, yield by weight of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, ry ...

. For centuries, worshippers from various regions journeyed to the mosque for

Friday prayers Friday prayer, or congregational prayer (), is the meeting together of Muslims for communal prayer and service at midday every Friday. In Islam, the day itself is called ''Yawm al-Jum'ah'' (shortened to ''Jum'ah''), which translated from Arabic me ...

and during

Islamic holidays There are two main holidays in Islam that are celebrated by Muslims worldwide: Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. The timing of both holidays are set by the lunar Islamic calendar, which is based upon the cycle of the moon, and so is different from the ...

. According to Niger's Ministry of Tourism, the mosque was the second-most visited in Niger, following 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 ...

-listed Agadez Mosque. Cracks were reported in some areas, but we could not intervene due to the rains," a local ministry official explained following the mosque's collapse.

Destruction

On 3 September 2024, intense rainfall caused the mosque to collapse. The region had been experiencing heavy rains for the past three months. Videos of the mosque's destruction were widely circulated on social media.

References

{{Mosques in Niger Mosques in Niger Religious buildings and structures in Niger Sudano-Sahelian architecture Zinder 19th-century mosques in Africa

History

Destruction

See also

References