Chālid-ibn-al-Walīd Mosque

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The Chalid Mosque (2005)
The mosque in Ottoman times around 1910

The Chalid-ibn-al-Walid Mosque ( Halid bin Velid Camii in Turkish , Arabic مسجد خالد ابن الوليد Masjid Chalid ibn al-Walid ) is an Ottoman mosque in the Ash Schuhada district of the Syrian city ​​of Homs . It contains the mausoleum of Chālid ibn al-Walīd , whoinitiatedthe Arab conquest of the Levant with the battle of Jarmuk in 636.

history

According to Muslim authors, a mosque was built around the tomb of Khalid ibn al-Walid as early as the 7th century. The present mausoleum dates from the 11th century. In the time of the Mameluke Sultan Baibars I , a mosque was again built around the mausoleum in 1265, which was restored in 1291 by his later successor al-Ashraf Chalil . According to local legend, Tamerlane is said to have spared the destruction of the city of Homs during his raids in Syria because of his fellow prophet Khalid ibn al-Walid. During the Ottoman period , the Dandan family received money from the Bani Chalid tribe in the 17th and 18th centuries through the mosque and mausoleum. Their alleged descent from Khalid ibn al-Walid was questioned by the scholar al-Qalqashandī as early as the Mameluk period .

The current mosque dates from the 20th century, although some sources indicate the 19th century. Nâzim Hüseyin Pascha, from 1895 to 1909 the Ottoman governor of the Vilâyets of Syria in the time of Sultan Abdülhamid II , ordered the demolition of the Mameluke mosque and the construction of a new mosque. It was completed in 1912 under the architect Abdallah Ulsun. According to David Nicolle , the construction of the imposing mosque was an attempt by the Ottomans to secure the loyalty of the increasingly rebellious Arab inhabitants of Syria. In the later years, the mosque cemetery had to give way to a park on Hama Street.

During the Syrian civil war , the Khalid-ibn-al-Walid mosque was a symbol of the rebel movement against the government of Bashar al-Assad . The khalid mausoleum was damaged in government bombings, parts of the mosque were burned and the door to the mausoleum was destroyed.

Building structure

The Chalid-ibn-al-Walid Mosque, built in the Turkish style, has a large courtyard, the walls of which are made of alternating light and dark stone (ablaq) . The two minarets are large, made of limestone like the window frames of the mosque and have narrow scissors (balconies). They are laid out on the north-west and north-east corners of the mosque and are a typical example of Islamic architecture on the Levant . The central dome was later given a smooth metal layer, which is supposed to reflect the sunlight. It is supported by four large pillars in the Mameluke Ablaq style. There are nine smaller domes around the large dome.

Most of the interior is occupied by the prayer hall, the walls of which were built from the basalt that is abundant in Homs. In the corner is the mausoleum of the Khalid, which consists of a decorated dome and images of his "50 victorious battles". His body was kept in a wooden sarcophagus with Quranic inscriptions on it. During renovations, the sarcophagus was moved to the National Museum in Damascus .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Homs: mosquée de Khalid Ibn Al-Walid - جامع خالد بن الوليد. In: www.aly-abbara.com. Retrieved July 14, 2016 .
  2. ^ Douwes, Dick: The Ottomans in Syria: a history of justice and oppression . IB Tauris, 2000, ISBN 1-86064-031-1 , pp. 36 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  3. ↑ a b Mikaberidze, Alexander: Volume 1 of Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World: A Historical Encyclopedia . ABC-CLIO, 2011, ISBN 978-1-59884-336-1 , p. 473 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  4. ↑ Syrian Troops Capture Historic Khalid Ibn Al-Walid Mosque In Homs' Khaldiyeh District. (No longer available online.) February 3, 2016, archived from the original on February 3, 2016 ; accessed on July 14, 2016 .

Coordinates: 34 ° 44 ′ 12.4 "  N , 36 ° 42 ′ 56.1"  E