Sidi Okba Mosque

{{Short description|Mosque in Sidi Okba, Algeria}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2025}} {{For|the mosque in Kairouan, Tunisia|Great Mosque of Kairouan}} {{Infobox religious building | building_name = Sidi Okba Mosque | native_name = {{lang|ar|مسجد سيدي عقبة}} | native_name_lang = ar | image = Sidi Okba Mosque 01.jpg | image_upright = | caption = | location = Sidi Okba | country = Algeria | map_type = | map_size = | map_alt = | map_relief = | map_caption = | mapframe = yes | coordinates = {{coord|34.7490277|5.8996375|type:landmark_region:DZ|format=dms|display=title,inline}} | religious_affiliation = Islam | rite = | consecration_year = | status = {{ubl|Mosque|Mausoleum}} | functional_status = Active | leadership = | website = | architect = | architecture_type = | architecture_style = Moorish | facade_direction = | established = | year_completed = {{ubl|686 {{small|(tomb)}}|{{circa|1025}}, 1800, 2009 {{small|(renovations)}}}} | construction_cost = | capacity = | length = | width = | width_nave = | height_max = | dome_quantity = | dome_height_outer = | dome_height_inner = | dome_dia_outer = | dome_dia_inner = | minaret_quantity = | minaret_height = | spire_quantity = | spire_height = | shrine_quantity = | materials = }} The '''Sidi Okba Mosque''' ({{langx|ar|مسجد سيدي عقبة|Masjid Sīdī ʻUqbah}}) is a mosque in the village of Sidi Okba, near Biskra, Algeria. A mausoleum was first established here in 686 to house the remains of Uqba ibn Nafi, a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and one of the prominent commanders of the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb, making it one of the oldest Muslim monuments in Algeria.<ref name=":1" /> The mosque was built around the tomb and has been renovated many times over the centuries. Since 2009, the historic building has been integrated into a much larger modern religious complex.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="mu" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Kasmi |first=Amine |date=2018 |title=Masjid Sayyidi 'Uqba |url=https://www.archnet.org/sites/17008 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251119045607/https://www.archnet.org/sites/17008 |archive-date=2025-11-19 |access-date=2026-01-02 |website=Archnet |language=en-US}}</ref>

==History== left|thumb|The mosque exterior, {{circa|1900}} ʻUqbah ibn Nāfiʻ, on his return from the victorious Battle of Vescera in the Atlas Mountains, was killed by the army of the Berber Christian king Kusayla ibn Lamzah in an ambush outside the town of Thouda in 683 CE.<ref>{{cite book|last=Conant|first=Jonathan|title=Staying Roman: Conquest and Identity in Africa and the Mediterranean, 439-700|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rfDpA2cbB0cC&pg=PA280|year=2012|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-19697-0|page=280|access-date=2020-06-28|archive-date=2023-05-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230516051514/https://books.google.com/books?id=rfDpA2cbB0cC&pg=PA280|url-status=live}}</ref> He was buried in the village of Sidi Okba, and later the mosque was built on top of it for commemoration. It is not exactly recorded who built the mosque; some consider that it was the followers of Uqba who were captured during the battle, and later redeemed by the judges in Tunis from the prison. Commander Zuhayr ibn Qays sent them back along with other Muslims to Thouda, where they built the mosque.<ref name="Al">{{cite web |url=https://albiladdaily.com/%D9%85%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%AC%D8%AF-%D9%84%D9%87%D8%A7-%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%AE-%D9%85%D8%B3%D8%AC%D8%AF-%D8%B9%D9%82%D8%A8%D8%A9-%D8%A8%D9%86-%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%B9-%D8%A8%D9%80%D9%80%D8%A8/ |script-title=ar:مساجد لها تاريخ.. مسجد عقبة بن نافع بــبــسكرة في الجزائر |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180829002220/http://www.albiladdaily.com/%D9%85%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%AC%D8%AF-%D9%84%D9%87%D8%A7-%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%AE-%D9%85%D8%B3%D8%AC%D8%AF-%D8%B9%D9%82%D8%A8%D8%A9-%D8%A8%D9%86-%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%B9-%D8%A8%D9%80%D9%80%D8%A8/ |archive-date=2018-08-29 |work=Al-Bilad |date= |access-date=January 9, 2018 |lang=ar }}</ref>{{Dead link|date=August 2023}}{{Dubious|date=August 2023|reason=Needs a proper scholarly source, as other available sources don't support this story.}}

The building was not constructed all at once<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Mausoleum and Mosque of Sayyidī (Sidi) 'Uqba |url=https://www.qantara-med.org/public/show_document.php?do_id=709&lang=en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220111054931/https://www.qantara-med.org/public/show_document.php?do_id=709&lang=en |archive-date=2022-01-11 |access-date=2022-01-11 |website=Qantara-med}}</ref> and was likely remodeled and expanded several times.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Benouis |first=Farida |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kmaWEAAAQBAJ |title=An Architecture of Light: Islamic Art in Algeria |last2=Chérid |first2=Houria |last3=Drias |first3=Lakhdar |last4=Semar |first4=Amine |publisher=Museum With No Frontiers |year=2022 |isbn=9783902782229 |pages= |language=en |translator-last=Harter |translator-first=Judy |chapter=I.1.a Sidi Okba |access-date=2023-08-08 |archive-date=2023-05-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230530120515/https://books.google.com/books?id=kmaWEAAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> The tomb, the oldest part, probably dates from 686,<ref name="mu" /> making it one of the first known Muslim monuments in Algeria.<ref name=":1" /> The decorated cedar-wood doors of the tomb have been dated by Georges Marçais the first half of the 11th century ({{circa|1025}}) during the Zirid period, based on a stylistic comparison with Zirid woodwork in the Great Mosque of Kairouan and with contemporary inscriptions on stelae found in Tunisia.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bourouiba |first=Rachid |title=L'art religieux musulman en Algérie |publisher=S.N.E.D. |year=1973 |location=Algiers |pages=26 |language=fr}}</ref><ref name="mu" /> This likely indicates a major renovation at this time.<ref name="mu" />

A zawiya was added to the mosque in 1665.<ref name=":0" /> Other inscriptions found in the mosque likely indicate the dates of further repairs or expansions.<ref name="mu" /> One inscription dates the mosque's mihrab from {{AH|1214|link=yes}} and another inscription on a wooden plaque dates from {{AH|1215}}.<ref name="mu" /><ref name=":0" /> These inscriptions also name Muhammad ibn 'Umar al-Tunisi as the sponsor of the work.<ref name=":0" />

The mosque was renovated in 1969 and again in 1996.<ref name=":0" /> In 2009, the old mosque was integrated into a larger modern religious complex with a new prayer hall and other facilities. The historic prayer hall no longer functions as a mosque.<ref name=":2" />

==Architecture== The building is designed in very simple hypostyle manner, similar to the earliest mosque built by Muhammad in Medina. The mostly flat roof of the prayer hall is supported by undecorated horseshoe arches held up by whitewashed columns, some of which are made of palm tree trunks.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="mu">{{Cite web |last=Lafer |first=Ali |title=Sidi 'Uqba (mosque, minaret and tomb) |url=https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;dz;Mon01;15;en |access-date=2023-08-08 |website=Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers |archive-date=2020-02-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200217145604/http://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument%3bisl%3bdz%3bmon01%3b15%3ben |url-status=live }}</ref> There are two domes: one above the mausoleum and the other in front of the mihrab.<ref name="mu" /> The mihrab is covered by a semi-dome and is decorated with stucco carved in simple and irregular interlace patterns, including engaged columns with capitals carved with grooves and stylized palm-tree motifs.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="mu" /> The mausoleum occupies the southwest corner of the mosque.<ref name=":0" /> The original minaret has a square shaft whose exterior is decorated with niches and intersecting blind arches. Its top is crowned with decorative merlons.<ref name=":0" /><gallery widths="150" heights="150"> File:Sidi Okba Mosque 03.jpg|The original minaret File:Sidi Okba Mosque 06.jpg|Exterior of the historic mosque, seen from an inner courtyard of the modern complex File:Sidi Okba Mosque 17.jpg|The historic prayer hall and mihrab </gallery>The modern Islamic complex added in the 21st century includes a new mosque building with a prayer hall large enough for 5,000 worshipers.<ref name=":2" /> The old mosque has been connected architecturally with the rest of the complex via additional porticoes surrounding it. The complex also includes a Quranic school, library, conference room, and dormitories.<ref name=":2" /><gallery widths="150" heights="150"> File:Sidi Okba Mosque 35.jpg|The modern mosque added in the 21st century File:Sidi Okba Mosque 15.jpg|Interior of the modern prayer hall </gallery>

== See also == {{stack|{{portal|Algeria|Islam}}}} * Islam in Algeria * List of mosques in Algeria * List of oldest mosques in Africa

==References== {{reflist}}

== Further reading == * {{Cite book |last=Marçais |first=Georges |title=Mélanges d’histoire et d’archéologie de l’occident musulman |year=1957 |pages=151-159 |language=fr |chapter=Le tombeau de Sidi-Oqba}}

== External links == {{commons category-inline|Sidi-Okba Mosque}} * [https://www.manar-al-athar.ox.ac.uk/pages/collections_featured.php?parent=5961 Images of Sidi Okba Mosque] in Manar al-Athar digital heritage archive

Category:7th-century mosques Category:Buildings and structures in Biskra Province Category:Mausoleums in Algeria Category:Mosque buildings with domes in Algeria Category:Mosque buildings with minarets in Algeria Category:Mosques in Algeria Category:Religious buildings and structures completed in the 680s