Description The Al-Azhar Mosque (the most blooming), established
in 972 (361 H) in a porticoed style shortly after the
founding of Cairo itself, was originally designed by
the Fatimid general Jawhar El-Sequili (Gawhara
Qunqubay, Gawhar al-Sakkaly) and built on the orders
of Caliph Muezz Li-Din Allah. Located in the center of
an area teaming with the most beautiful Islamic
monuments from the 10th century, it was called "Al-Azhar"
after Fatama al-Zahraa, daughter of the Prophet
Mohamed (Peace and Prayers Be Upon Him). It imitated
both the Amr Ibn El-As and Ibn Tulun mosques. The
first Fatimid monument in Egypt, the Azhar was both a
meeting place for Shi'a students and through the
centuries, it has remained a focal point of the famous
university which has grown up around it.
It was under Yaqoub Ibn Cals that the mosque became a teaching
institute. This is the oldest university in the world,
where the first lecture was delivered in 975 AD. Today
the university built around the Mosque is the most
prestigious of Muslim schools, and its students are
highly esteemed for their traditional training. While
ten thousand students once studied here, today the
university classes are conducted in adjacent buildings
and the Mosque is reserved for prayer. In addition to
the religious studies, modern schools of medicine,
science and foreign languages have also been added.
Architecturally, the mosque is a palimpsest of all
styles and influences that have passed through Egypt,
with a large part of it having been renovated by Abdarrahman Khesheda. There are five very fine
minarets with small balconies and intricately carved
columns. It has six entrances, with the main entrance
being the 18th Century Bab el-Muzayini (barber's
gate), where students were once shaved. This gate
leads into a small courtyard and then into the
Aqbaughawiya Medersa to the left, which was built in
1340 and serves as a library. On the right is the
Taybarsiya Medersa built in 1310 which has a very fine
mihrab. The Qaitbay Entrance was built in 1469 and has
a minaret built atop. Inside is a large courtyard that
is 275 by 112 feet which is surrounded with porticos
supported by over three hundred marble columns of
ancient origin. To the east is the prayer hall which
is larger than the courtyard and has several rows of
columns. The Kufic inscription on the interior of the
mihrab is original, though the mihrab has been
modified several times, and behind is a hall added in
1753 by Abd el-Rahman Katkhuda. At the northern end is
the tomb medersa of Jawhar El-Sequili.
