Safir Mosque

Safir Mosque (Arabic: مسجد سفير‎ or Arabic: جامع سفير‎) is an old mosque in the city of Algiers, Algeria. It is located inside the UNESCO World Heritage inscribed medina quarter Casbah of Algiers. The design follows the Ottoman architectural style.

Safir Mosque
مسجد سفير
Religion
AffiliationSunni Islam
Location
LocationAlgiers, Algeria
Geographic coordinates36.7833816°N 3.0580312°E / 36.7833816; 3.0580312
Architecture
TypeMosque
Completed1534

Etymology

The mosque was initially called as Jami Caid Safar bin Abdullah, but later it was renamed to Safir Mosque or Jami Safir after around 18th century.[1] Safir of the name is considered as Safar bin Abdullah. Safar was originally a Christian slave who converted to Islam, learned Arabic and memorized the entire Qur'an; then freed and promoted general by Hayreddin Barbarossa.[2][3]

History

The mosque was completed in 1534, in the place few meters away from the Mosque-Zawiya of Sidi Muhammad Sharif. The mosque was constructed on a land where was newly included into the medina after the establishment of new city walls in order to expand the quarter. The construction date is recorded in the book available in the mosque; the groundbreaking was in Rajab of 940 AH, and the completion is the second of Rabi' al-awwal in 941 AH, roughly equal to the 11 of September in 1534, which means the construction took nine months.[4]

Notable Imams
  • Mohamed Charef (1908-2011)
  • Brahim Boushaki (1912-1997)

See also

References
  1. مدينة الجزائر القديمة... مساجد بارزة من العمارة المغاربية-الأندلسية لا زالت تتحدى الزمن. Elmasser. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
  2. "Des mosquées-monuments défient le temps". Djazairess (in French). Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  3. "Son fondateur était un converti". Djazairess. Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  4. القصبة ..الموروث الذي يروي تاريخ الجزائر مع الحضارات العريقة. Ennahar Online. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
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