The mosque was built at the place where the commander of the conqueror army, Major General Amr bin Al-Aas, pitched his tent. One of the pillars of the mosque contains the tomb of his son Abdullah bin Amr bin Al-Aas. Due to extensive reconstruction over the centuries, none of the original building has survived, but the reconstructed mosque is an important historical landmark, and it can be seen in what is now known as "Old Cairo". It is an active mosque with devout worshipers, and in the event that prayer is not performed, it opens to visitors and tourists.
Building
The original plan was a simple rectangle, 29 meters long and 17 meters wide. It was a low shed built with stone and mud bricks, with columns of palm trunks, covered with a wooden roof and palm leaves, and the floor of it was of gravel.
In these first mosques, there were few requirements to be achieved, and even minarets were not necessary, and the only indispensable condition was that they should be directed towards Mecca within the building, the direction towards Mecca was not defined by a concave location, as would be in all mosques. instead, four columns were used to indicate the direction of Mecca, and were inserted into the qibla wall. The mosque was large enough to provide a place of prayer for Amir's army, and had no other decorations.
It was completely rebuilt in 672, adding four minarets to each corner of the mosque and doubling its area. The addition of these minarets allowed the call to prayer to be heard throughout the city and in other nearby mosques. Perhaps this addition was inspired by the Great Mosque in Damascus.
Abd al-Aziz ibn Marawan added an expansion of the mosque in 698 and doubled its area again. In the year 711 a concave prayer niche was added to replace its flat place. In the year 827, Abdullah bin Tir added more additions to the mosque, and after a few years, the Abbasid Caliph al-Ma'mun added a new area on the southwest side, increasing the dimensions of the mosque by 120 x 112 meters, and was expanded to its current size. Seven new aisles were built parallel to the qibla wall. Each corridor had a portico of columns, and the last column in each row was connected to the wall by a piece of wood (perpendicular) carved with a frieze. At the time, the small mud mosque was nothing more than a distant memory: the walls were stone and now the palm tree trunks have been replaced by marble columns.
The only part of the old mosque structure, which can still be seen, is some of the towers along the mosque's southern wall. It was probably added during the reconstruction in 827. In 1169.
In the eighteenth century, one of the leaders of the Mamluks, Murad Bey, destroyed the mosque due to ruin and rebuilt it in 1796, before a French expedition arrived in Egypt led by Napoleon. Murad reduced the number of rows of columns and changed the direction of the aisles to make them perpendicular to the qibla wall. It is also possible at this stage to add the remaining minaret streams. In the twentieth century, during the reign of Abbas II in Egypt, the mosque underwent another restoration, with parts of the entrance rebuilt in 1980.
It was completely rebuilt in 672, adding four minarets to each corner of the mosque and doubling its area. The addition of these minarets allowed the call to prayer to be heard throughout the city and in other nearby mosques. Perhaps this addition was inspired by the Great Mosque in Damascus.
Abd al-Aziz ibn Marawan added an expansion of the mosque in 698 and doubled its area again. In the year 711 a concave prayer niche was added to replace its flat place. In the year 827, Abdullah bin Tir added more additions to the mosque, and after a few years, the Abbasid Caliph al-Ma'mun added a new area on the southwest side, increasing the dimensions of the mosque by 120 x 112 meters, and was expanded to its current size. Seven new aisles were built parallel to the qibla wall. Each corridor had a portico of columns, and the last column in each row was connected to the wall by a piece of wood (perpendicular) carved with a frieze. At the time, the small mud mosque was nothing more than a distant memory: the walls were stone and now the palm tree trunks have been replaced by marble columns.
The only part of the old mosque structure, which can still be seen, is some of the towers along the mosque's southern wall. It was probably added during the reconstruction in 827. In 1169.
In the eighteenth century, one of the leaders of the Mamluks, Murad Bey, destroyed the mosque due to ruin and rebuilt it in 1796, before a French expedition arrived in Egypt led by Napoleon. Murad reduced the number of rows of columns and changed the direction of the aisles to make them perpendicular to the qibla wall. It is also possible at this stage to add the remaining minaret streams. In the twentieth century, during the reign of Abbas II in Egypt, the mosque underwent another restoration, with parts of the entrance rebuilt in 1980.
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