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Al-Arba'een Mosque

Coordinates: 34°35′56″N 43°40′34″E / 34.59889°N 43.67611°E / 34.59889; 43.67611
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Al-Arba'een Mosque
جامع الأربعين شهيداً
The mosque before its 2014 destruction
Religion
AffiliationSunni Islam (former)
Ecclesiastical or organisational statusMosque
(11th century–2014)
StatusDestroyed
(under reconstruction)
Location
LocationTikrit, Saladin Governorate
CountryIraq
Al-Arba'een Mosque is located in Iraq
Al-Arba'een Mosque
Location of the mosque in Iraq
Map
Geographic coordinates34°35′56″N 43°40′34″E / 34.59889°N 43.67611°E / 34.59889; 43.67611
Architecture
TypeMosque architecture
FounderAmr ibn Jundab Al-Ghafari
Completed5th century AH
(11th century CE)
Destroyed24 September 2014
Specifications
Length47 m (154 ft)
Width47 m (154 ft)
Dome(s)Five (since destroyed)
Minaret(s)One (since destroyed)
Shrine(s)Two:
MaterialsGravel; plaster

The Al-Arba'een Mosque (Arabic: جامع الأربعين شهيداً) is a former Sunni mosque, that was located in the city of Tikrit, in the Saladin Governorate of Iraq. It contained a shrine for Amr ibn Jundab Al-Ghafari, and another shrine for Sitt Nafisa.[1] The mosque was destroyed by ISIL on 24 September 2014.

History

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The building dates from the 5th century AH (11th century CE).[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] and 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 CE.[4]

Architecture

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The mosque building was a square shape, with five domes. Each side was approximately 47 metres (154 ft) long.[1] Its dimensions are 36.5 by 35.5 metres (120 by 116 ft).[2] Gravel and plaster were mostly used to construct the building[1] and the two venerated rooms are 10 metres (33 ft) 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]

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.

See also

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Al-Arba'een Mosque before destruction
The mosque before its destruction in 2014.

References

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  1. ^ 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؟. Al Jazeera (in Arabic). Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  2. ^ a b تكريت, مدونة (July 19, 2013). تكريت: مزار الاربعين في تكريت الموقع و التاريخ. تكريت (in Arabic). Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  3. ^ a b بالصور .. تحفة إسلامية تحتضن مرقد صحابي تعاني الإهمال في تكريت. قناه السومرية العراقية (in Arabic). Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  4. ^ a b "ISIS destroys shrine in Iraq amid U.S. strikes". Al Arabiya English. September 25, 2014. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  5. ^ موسوعة شذرات المطر ..مدونة المهندس رائد جعفر مطر : مزار الاربعين ولي في تكريت. موسوعة شذرات المطر ..مدونة المهندس رائد جعفر مطر (in Arabic). February 25, 2019. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
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Media related to Al-Arba'een Mosque at Wikimedia Commons