Day 3: The Mosque Of Mohamed Ali

On our final day, Sharif took us too The Citadel and The Mosque of Mohamed Ali, also know as the Alabaster Mosque. We had seen a lot of mosques in the short time we had been here but this one I was most excited about. I had found it online and wanted to see it after our tours. But Sharif decided to include this in the tour so I was super excited. This is the mosque below in the picture. It is an amazing site to see in person. The architecture, the history and the amazing detail in everything was breath taking. We had seen a lot up to the third day but this is one of most favorite. This is what we have been looking forward to, a nose dive into their culture, their religion and their way of life.

Now for some history on the mosque that we learned. The mosque began construction in 1830 AD and was completed in 1857 AD. The mosque was built for Mohamed Ali, he actually never got to see it completed because he died in 1849 AD and his predecessor had it finished. Mohamed Ali's tomb is inside of the mosque which we did not see. We entered in through the court yard of the mosque, also rightfully called the Alabaster Mosque. The were columns going all around it and in the center was the cleansing area. In the Islamic religion, you must cleanse yourself before prayer.

The cleansing area.

Entering the courtyard.

The ceiling inside the cleansing area.

The eastern section of the mosque is the part that was dedicated to prayer. It is square in shape, each side measure 41m, and has a roof with a central dome (52m in height) resting on four large arches supported by massive piers. Surrounding the big central dome there are four half domes, while there are four more small domes covering the corners. The marble mihrab is covered by a half-dome at the lower level. The domes are pointed and covered with medallions and other motifs. The interior dome is impressive because of its size and shape, similar to the Mosques of Istanbul. There are 6 medallions around the dome, which include the names of Allah (God) and Mohamed (the Prophet), as well as the names of the four rightly guided Caliphs, namely Abou Bakr, Omar, Othman, and Ali. 

Alabaster columns inside the mosque

The two lower medallions in the picture are Allah (God) and Mohamed (The Prophet)

Here is four of the medallions in the ceiling the names here are Abou Bakr, Omar, Othman, and Ali.

In the center is the minbar (or pulpit) they use now and behind is a solid marble minbar which they used before the new one.

The original minbar

There was huge walls built around the Citadel where the mosque is at. This I don't remember when or why it was built. Also, about 5 miles away, there is a watch tower that was built to watch for intruders. They used fire to let someone in the Citadel know if there was an unknown coming.

The watch tower

One of the towers in the wall surrounding the Citadel

This was a truly an amazing thing to be able to see. We were able to get information on their past and Sharif even gave us a small introduction to the history of the Islamic religion. When we entered the mosque, out of respect, you are required to remove your shoes. When you sat down on the carpet you placed your shoes soles facing each other so they were not on the carpet. Again it is out of respect for the culture and religion we are living in now. It was very informative to learn the history of the Islamic religion, especially since it gets tainted by many around the world. But it was great to be given such an informative, precise breakdown of the Islamic religion from Sharif, a well-educated Muslim man. In closing, here is another picture of the mosque I wanted to throw up for good measure.