Hama Mosque

Mosque Name: Jami’ Hama al-Kabir

Country: Syria

City: Hama

Year of construction (AH): 15 AH

Year of construction (AD): 637 AD

GPS: 35° 8’3.87”N 36°44’55.63”E

ArchNet: http://archnet.org/sites/3497

Gibson Classification: Between

Rebuilt facing Between: 1982

For a Link to the Qibla Tool Click Here

Description:

Located in Bab al-Qubli Quarter west of the citadel, Jami’ al-Kabir, or the Great Mosque, was build on the site of a Roman Temple built about 250 DE. The temple was converted into a Byzantine Church approximately 100 years later, around 350 CE.

The earliest author to mention a mosque being constructed on this spot was Abdu’l-Fida, (Abdu-al-Fida) who wrote that the mosque was transformed in 15 AH, or around 636-637. (Creswell, EMA ¹⁄₁:21) Some scholars have debated the accuracy of this, because this would have given Hama a larger mosque than other cities such as Jerusalem or even Damascus. However, Abdu’l-Fida, who was an aclaimed historian writing in the 8th century, and a native of Hama may have ment the site was used for Muslim prayer after the Muslims arrived in 15 AH. Today there is a mosque and masoleum honoring Abdu-al-Fida in Hama.

About 270 meters east of the Large Hama mosque, was a very small mosque, possibly a Rashidun mosque known as Hassanien Mosque. This may have been the earliest mosque in the area, and has been respected as an early place of Muslim prayer until this day.

There is no established date when the church on this spot was transformed into a mosque, but scholars agree that the early mosque on this site no longer exists, as the site underwent major renovations sometime between 700 and 800 CE / 80-180 AH, and also in 1134-1135 / 529 AH and the second in 1422 / 825 AH. Inscriptions in the prayer hall also suggest a renovation took place in 1397-1398 / 800 AH.

The mosque contains bits and parts of previous buildings, demonstrating how the previous structures and bulding supplies were incorporated into each renovation. Sauvaget argued that the west and east walls of the prayer hall dated back to Umayyad times, but Creswell strong disagreed with him claiming that nothing structural remained from the earlier church.

In 1982, the mosque was destroyed in bombardments to suppress an uprising. The Syrian Antiquities Department then rebuilt the mosque according to a historic design. This mosque now faces the Between Qibla.

The prayer hall has five domes and originally had five entrances. Two are now converted to windows. The courtyard is enclosed by a vaulted portico and contains an elevated treasury like the one in the courtyard of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus (709-15 / 90-96 AH). There are two minarets. A square minaret is adjacent to the prayer hall and dates back to the early decades of the twelfth century, though sources vary on the exact date of construction. The other, near the north doorway, is octagonal in shape and was built by about 1427 by the Mamluks. The western portico opens onto a mausoleum containing the tombs of 13th century Ayyubid Caliphs.

The mosque was destroyed in bombardments to suppress a 1982 uprising in Hama. The Syrian Antiquities Department rebuilt the mosque according to an early Umayyad design.

Biography

Creswell, K. A. C. “The Great Mosque of Ḥamā.” In Aus der Welt der Islamischen Kunst, edited by Richard Ettinghausen, 48-53. Berlin: Mann Verlag, 1959.

Nilsson, Alexandra. Hama and Jabla: Watercolours 1931-1961 by the Danish Architect Ejnar Fugmann. Aarhus; Oakville, CT: Aarhus University Press. 2002.

Shahāda, Kamāl. “al-Jāmi‘ al-a‘lā al-kabīr fī Ḥamā.” Les Annales Archeologiques Arabes Syriennes 26 (1976): 213-222.

O’Kane, Bernard. “The Great Mosque of Hama Redux.” In Creswell Photographs Re-examined, edited by Bernard O’Kane, 219-246. Cairo: American University of Cairo Press, 2009.