Al-Azhar Mosque

mosque in Islamic Cairo, Egypt

Key facts

Affiliation: Sunni Islam
Ecclesiastical or organizational status: Mosque
Leadership: Ahmad al-Tayyeb
Status: Active
Location: Islamic Cairo
Country: Egypt
Type: Mosque
Style: Fatimid (with later Mamluk additions)
Established: 970 CE
Completed: 972 CE (with later additions)
Capacity: 20,000 worshippers
Dome: Many
Site area: 15,600 m (168,000 sq ft)

Article

Al-Azhar Mosque (Arabic: الجامع الأزهر, romanized: al-Jāmiʿ al-ʾAzhar, lit. 'The Resplendent Congregational Mosque'), known in Egypt simply as al-Azhar, is a mosque in the historic Islamic core of the city of Cairo, Egypt. Commissioned as the new capital of the Fatimid Caliphate in 970 CE, it was the first mosque established in a city that eventually earned the nickname "the City of a Thousand Minarets". Its name is usually thought to derive from az-Zahrāʾ (lit. 'the shining one'), a title given to Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad.

After its dedication in 972, and with the hiring by mosque authorities of 35 scholars in 989, the mosque slowly developed into what it is today.