Al-Arba'een Mosque
Al-Arba'een Mosque (Arabic: جامع الأربعين شهيداً) was a historic mosque in the city of Tikrit, Iraq. It contained a shrine for Amr ibn Jundab Al-Ghafari, and another shrine for Sitt Nafisa.[1]
History
![Al-Arba'een Mosque before destruction](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e4/%D9%85%D8%B3%D8%AC%D8%AF_%D9%88%D9%85%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%B1_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%B1%D8%A8%D8%B9%D9%8A%D9%86_%D9%88%D8%B3%D8%B7_%D9%85%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%86%D8%A9_%D8%AA%D9%83%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%AA_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%82%D9%8A%D8%A9_%D9%8A%D8%B6%D9%85_%D8%B1%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%A9_%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A8%D8%B9%D9%8A%D9%86_%D8%B4%D9%87%D9%8A%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%8B_%D9%85%D9%86_%D8%B4%D9%87%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%A1_%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D8%AA%D8%AD_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%8A_%D9%84%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%86%D8%A9_%D9%81%D9%8A_%D8%B9%D9%87%D8%AF_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AE%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%81%D8%A9_%D8%B9%D9%85%D8%B1_%D8%A8%D9%86_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AE%D8%B7%D8%A7%D8%A8.jpg/220px-thumbnail.jpg)
The building dates back to the 5th century AH.[1] The name of the mosque, "Al-Arba'een" (The Forty), is derived[2] from a belief that forty martyrs killed during an Islamic conquest of Tikrit[3] were buried under the mosque, although this claim is contested as reports of the forty graves are weak.[1]
The building was used as an Islamic university in 1262 AD.[4]
Construction
The mosque building was a square shape, with five domes. Each side was approximately forty-seven meters long.[1] Its dimensions are 36.5 x 35.5 meters.[2] Gravel and plaster were mostly used to construct the building[1] and the two venerated rooms are ten meters tall.[1]
One of these venerated rooms was a shrine that contained a tomb of Amr ibn Jundab Al-Ghafari,[3] a companion of the Rashidun caliph Umar ibn Al-Khattab. There was also a cellar in the building which is believed by locals to house the resting place of a female saint, Sitt Nafisa.[5]
Demolition
The mosque was destroyed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in 2014 by explosives.[4] The explosion completely destroyed the shrines but did not damage the rest of the mosque. The surrounding cemetery was damaged.
References
- ^ a b c d e f الأحمدي, مصطفى. "عبد الله بن المعتم وعمرو بن جندب الغفاري أبرز المدفونين فيه.. ما قصة مزار الأربعين صحابيا في تكريت؟". www.aljazeera.net (in Arabic). Retrieved 2022-06-07.
- ^ a b تكريت, مدونة (July 19, 2013). تكريت: مزار الاربعين في تكريت الموقع و التاريخ. تكريت. Retrieved 2022-06-07.
- ^ a b "بالصور .. تحفة إسلامية تحتضن مرقد صحابي تعاني الإهمال في تكريت". قناه السومرية العراقية (in Arabic). Retrieved 2022-06-07.
- ^ a b "ISIS destroys shrine in Iraq amid U.S. strikes". Al Arabiya English. 2014-09-25. Retrieved 2022-06-07.
- ^ "موسوعة شذرات المطر ..مدونة المهندس رائد جعفر مطر : مزار الاربعين ولي في تكريت". موسوعة شذرات المطر ..مدونة المهندس رائد جعفر مطر. 25 February 2019. Retrieved 2022-06-09.