Mosque Name: Masjid ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azīz
Country: Jordan
City: Suf
Year of construction (AH): 68 AH
Year of construction (AD): 687 AD
GPS: 32.31528, 35.83889
Gibson Classification: Petra, 200.9
Rebuilt facing Mecca: never
Description:
This mosque has a lower and upper level. The lower level is the original mosque, while the upper level is more modern. Roman and Byzantine limestone are incorporated into the structure. An Arabic inscription reads: Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz, in the year eighty six Hijri. So this mosque was founded by ‘Umar before he became the eighth Caliph of the Umayyads. (717-720). Measurements on the ground show a Qibla direction of 200.9
The imam and also a local man told us that they figured the mosque was a church before it became a mosque. Below the mosque and in the surrounding area there is a system of tunnels and some appear to have been related to a church. This may suffice for them why the mosque is not oriented towards Mecca.
The current mosque was renovated about 40 years ago. One of them remembered that before the renovation there were mosaics and paintings on the walls and a snake figure on a column, but that was all removed during the renovation. The inscription of Umar ibn al-Aziz is still there.
More information can be found on pages 162-164 in: Islamic Heritage Sites in Jordan, A Student’s Gazetteer, prepared by the MA-Students of The German-Jordanian University, in Architectural Conservation School for Architecture and Built Environment Academic Years, 2017 - 2020, edited by Thomas M. Weber-Karyotakis & Ammar Khammash with Hussein al-Aza‘at, Nader Atiyeh, Catreena Hamarneh, Khairiyeh al-Kukhun & Robert Schick. GJU, Amman 2020
For a Link to the Qibla Tool Click Here
Suf mosque
Sketches of the Suf Mosque
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