Amr Ibn Al As Mosque is the first mosque built in Egypt and Africa. It is located in the city of Fustat, close to Old Cairo. Fustat includes many tourist attractions such as the Hanging Church, Ben Ezra Synagogue, and the Nilometer in Manial.
Who is Amr Ibn Al As?
Amr Ibn Al As is one of the companions of the prophet Mohammed (May God bless him and grant him peace). He entered Egypt in 641 AD / 20 AH due to the order by Caliph Umar Ibn Al-Khattab.
Egypt was suffering from the oppression of the Roman rulers, as the Copts in Egypt were suffering from religious persecution. So the Copts welcomed the Islamic conquest of Egypt and the end of the unjust Roman rule.
Fustat is the capital of Egypt:
After the fortress of Babylon fell into the hands of the Muslims and Egypt was conquered. Amr Ibn Al As ordered his soldiers to set up their tents in the north of the fortress of Babylon. But when the Muslim army went to Alexandria to fight the Romans. Amr Ibn Al As ordered his soldiers to remove the tents, but he found a pigeon that built its nest on top of his tent, so he refused to remove the tent and leave it in its place.
After the victory of the Muslim army in Alexandria, Caliph Umar Ibn Al-Khattab refused to take Alexandria as the capital of Egypt, so Amr Ibn Al As founded Fustat to become the capital of Egypt and the first capital of Muslims in Africa.
Amr Ibn Al As Mosque:
The first mosque in Egypt and Africa was established on 21 AH, a year after the Islamic conquest of Egypt. It is known as the Old Mosque. Al-Zubayr Ibn Al-‘Awam and Ubada Ibn Al-Samit, the companions of the Prophet Mohammed (May God bless him and grant him peace), helped in establishing the mosque.
The mosque was built of mud bricks and roofed with palm trunks, but it was renovated and reconstructed several times to become in the form that it is now.
It wasn’t just a mosque, but it was a place for holding court sessions for settling disputes, seminars, and religious lectures.
