Al Arab Quaraouiyine rear RTL ''' القرويين ''' in (litéralement " the mosque of the Kairouan ais") is one of the most important mosques of the Morocco. Its construction begins into 857 with Fès, under the reign of the Dynastie Idrisside. It is a woman, heiress of a rich person Kairouan board, Oum Al Banine fatima Al Fihriya, which is at the origin of its foundation. Throughout the centuries, the mosque sees its architecture evolving/moving and increasing. It becomes, of Xe at the 12th century, an important center of teaching and one of the first universities in the world.

At the 12th century, a whole series of names among largest will be associated in one way or another with Quaraouiyine: large precursors of the Sufism, such Ibn Hrizim, Abou Madyane, Abdeslam Ben Mchich Alami, the philosophers Avenpace and Averroès, the geographer Al Idrissi but also Maïmonide and Ibn Khaldoun to quote only these.

History

The Emir Yahya Ben Muhammad was proclaimed sovereign the day of died of his Aly brother and walked in the way of his predecessors. Under her reign the population of Fès increased considerably and the city was soon insufficient. It is at that time that was built the Quaraouiyine Mosque. The site was an open, containing gypsum and sparse area of some trees; it belonged to a man of Houara which had brought of Africa with him his wife, her sister and her daughter.

The latter called Fatima and called Oum Al Banine (the mother of two wire) was a virtuous and holy woman; with died her parents she inherited large goods and she wanted to devote them to a pious work to deserve the blessing of God.

Fatima believed to achieve this goal by building a Mosque and if likes it very high God, she will find her reward in the other world, the day or each heart will receive the reward of although she will have made.

She bought of the owner the site of the Quaraouiyine Mosque of which she threw the bases first Saturday of the month of Ramadan, year 245. The walls were built in tabiah and hedden that one extracted progressively from a career located on the ground even which provided also the ground, the stones and sand, so that this crowned Mosque was entirely built with materials of its own land.

The holy woman fasted all the time whom work lasted and when they were completed, she addressed actions of thanks to very high God who had assisted it in this good work. The Mosque built by Fatima had four belathat, a small court, a mehereb. Its minaret relatively low and was built on Aneza on the side of the south.

Structure

All the materials necessary were extracted from a career established on the ground even; water was provided by a well also dug to the same place.

The mosque then had 150 empans (approximately 35 meters) length of North in the South, it included/understood four naves, a small court, a mhirab, a minaret relatively low.

The mosque counts 270 columns forming 16 naves of 21 arcs each one. Each nave contains 4 lines of 210 faithful, that is to say 840 what gives for 16 naves 13440. Let us add 160, number of faithful which is placed at the need in front of the columns; 2700 still can find place in the court and 6000 in the gallery, the halls the thresholds of the doors, so that 22700 faithful can hear the prayer at the same time.

Sources

• Roudh el Cartas by Abou Mohammed Saleh Ben Abd el Halim, 1325 (translation of Auguste Beaumier, 1858).
• Monograph on Fez by the Thomas Captain, 1892-1893, papers Martinière.

Bond external

• Quaraouiyine University.

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