Mosque of the Companions

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Mosque of the Companions
Masjid aṣ-Ṣaḥābah (مَسْجِد ٱلصَّحَابَة)
Al Sahaba Mosque, Massawa.jpg
Religion
Affiliation Islam
Deity God
Location
Location Massawa, Eritrea
Eritrea physical map.svg
Red pog.svg
Shown within Eritrea
Africa relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Mosque of the Companions (Africa)
Geographic coordinates 15°36′43″N39°28′50″E / 15.61194°N 39.48056°E / 15.61194; 39.48056
Architecture
Type Masjid
Founder Companions of Muhammad
Date established620s or 630s
Specifications
Dome(s)1
Minaret(s)1

The Mosque of the Companions (Arabic : مَسْجِد ٱلصَّحَابَة, romanized: Masjid aṣ-Ṣaḥābah)[ citation needed ] is a mosque in the city of Massawa, Eritrea. Possibly dating to the early 7th century C.E., it is believed by some to be the first mosque built in Africa. [1]

Contents

History

The mosque was reportedly built by companions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad who travelled to Africa to flee persecution by people in the Hejazi city of Mecca, present-day Saudi Arabia. [1] According to Richard J. Reid, it may have been constructed in the 620s or 630s by members of Muhammad's family. [1] The mosque of Quba, which is the first mosque built by Muhammad, in what is now Medina, dates to around the same time. [2] [3] [4] [5] The current structure is of much later construction, as some features, like the mihrab (late 7th century) and the minaret (9th century), did not develop until later in Islamic architecture. [6] [ unreliable source ]

See also

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Reid, Richard J. (2012). A History of Modern Africa: 1800 to the Present. John Wiley & Sons. p. 106. ISBN   978-0-470-65898-7.
  2. Michigan Consortium for Medieval and Early Modern Studies (1986). Goss, V. P.; Bornstein, C. V. (eds.). The Meeting of Two Worlds: Cultural Exchange Between East and West During the Period of the Crusades. Vol. 21. Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University. p. 208. ISBN   0918720583.
  3. Mustafa Abu Sway. "The Holy Land, Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Qur'an, Sunnah and other Islamic Literary Source" (PDF). Central Conference of American Rabbis. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-28.
  4. Dyrness, W. A. (2013-05-29). Senses of Devotion: Interfaith Aesthetics in Buddhist and Muslim Communities. Vol. 7. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 25. ISBN   978-1620321362.
  5. Macca, A. A.; Aryanti, T. (16–18 November 2016). "The Domes: El Wakil's Traditionalist Architecture of Quba Mosque". 1st Annual Applied Science and Engineering Conference (AASEC). IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, Volume 180. Bandung, Indonesia: The International Conference on Sport Science, Health, and Physical Education (ICSSHPE). doi: 10.1088/1757-899X/180/1/012092 .
  6. "as-Sahaba Mosque". Madain Project. Retrieved 2 April 2019.