Muhammad bin Qasim Mosque

Mosque Name: Muhammad bin Qasim Mosque

Country: Pakistan

City: Sindh

Year of construction (AD): unknown, 712 or later

Year of construction (AH): 93 AH or later

GPS: 27.645815° 68.936360°

Gibson Classification: Unknown

Rebuilt facing Mecca: perhaps 1400’s

Description:

Muhammad bin Qasim led the Islamic armies into Pakistan in 649 CE or 28 AH. But it wasn’t until 712 CE or 93 AH that the city of Alor was captured. The mosque in question was built sometime after this.

Alor was the ancient capital of Sindh, now modern Rohri, adjacent to Sukkur, Sindh, Pakistan. In 712 AD al-Alor was captured by the army of Muslim general Muhammad bin Qasim on the 10th of Ramadan, 93 AH. Fateh Namah Dinsh (Chach Nanah) (13th century, but accuracy debated) and Janatus Sindh records that the Muslim conqueror built a mosque after his conquest of Dinsh province in the large cities of Debal (near Karachi) Neroon Kot (near Hyderbad) Sewestan, Arore, and Multan. The mosques of Debal, Sewestan and Multan have long since disappeared. However, an old graveyard in Multan ( 30.192349° 71.456785°) does appear to face the Petra region. The only surviving mosque is near Hyderbad known today as the Banbahore Mosque. This is the earliest mosque that has been found, facing Mecca.

The Shams-Ul-Ulma Mirza Qaleech (1853) records that Arore was the capital of Sindh until 125 AH. It also stated that there was a mosque in Arore built by Muhammad bin Qasm that was in ruins.

In 962 the entire city was destroyed by a massive earthquake that changed the course of the Indus River, wiping out everything from the original city. One would assume that the Umayyad congregational mosque would have been in the centre of the city, and thus totally destroyed in the earthquake and resulting flood.

Today, however, there are ruins of an old building at the very top of a small hill, that locals celebrate as the original mosque. It is hard to imagine how a congregational mosque would be built in such a place, far from the city centre. No archaeological excavation has taken place, and no solid data has been found to establish that this was the original mosque built by Muhammad bin Qasim. Some feel it is a mosque constructed in 1400s. Marvi Mazhar, a Pakistani expert in ancient architecture visited the mosque and compared it to other known structures in Pakistan, and dated this structure to the 14th century to the middle of the 15th century CE. (See her paper here.)

It is interesting to note that the old graves at 27.646378° 68.937813° face 275 degrees with is close to the between Qibla.

While the modern yard around the Muhammad bin Qasim Mosque seems to be oriented towards Mecca, it is difficult to determine the original Qibla direction from the few bits of building that remain. If this mosque does indeed face Mecca, and if it does date back to around 95 AH, then it would be the earliest mosque facing Mecca, predating the Banbhore mosque in Pakistan (109 AH.) by around 14-15 years. However, as Marvi Mazhar points out in her paper, the architecture appears very similar to later mosque construction from the 14-15th centuries.

For a Link to the Qibla Tool Click Here