Uwais al-Qarni Mosque

Uwais al-Qarani Mosque (Arabic: مَسْجِد أُوَيْس ٱلْقَرَنِيّ, romanized: Masjid ʾUways al-Qaranīy) was a Twelver Shi'a mosque in Raqqa, Syria, until it was demolished by the Islamic State on May 31, 2014. It is currently awaiting reconstruction.

Uwais al-Qarani Mosque
مَسْجِد أُوَيْس ٱلْقَرَنِيّ
Religion
AffiliationTwelver Shi'ism
StatusDestroyed
Location
LocationRaqqa, Syria
Architecture
TypeMosque
Completed2003
Destroyed2014

History

Dedication

It contained the shrines of Ammar ibn Yasir and Owais al-Qarani, who died in the Battle of Siffin in 657, which took place around 40 km (25 mi) west of Raqqa. It was adjacent to the Bab al-Baghdad, another major landmark in the city.[1][2]

Construction

The original tombs were located in the old cemetery at the edge of the city. In 1988, Syrian president Hafez al-Assad and the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ruhollah Khomeini, initiated a project to develop a new mosque around the tombs. The work was completed in 2003 and a commemorative plaque credited President Bashar al-Assad and Iranian President Mohammad Khatami with completing the project.[3]

Destruction

In June 2013, rebel fighters from the Wahhabi-Salafi group al-Muntasereen Billah were living in the mosque complex.[4] On March 26, 2014, the mosque was blown up by two powerful explosions and completely destroyed by the Islamic State because it was a Shi'a structure. More specifically, it was also built over graves and thus served as a shrine.[5][6][7][8]

See also

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Awis al-Qarni Mosque.
  1. Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar of Sehwan-Sharif - Page 87, Inam Mohammad - 1978
  2. Religion and politics in Central Asia under Saljûqs - Page 198, Naseem Ahmad - 2003
  3. "The Shiite crescent eclipsed". Flickr. 16 April 2013. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  4. Dziadosz, Alexander (2013-06-21). "Special Report: Deepening ethnic rifts reshape Syria's towns". Reuters. Retrieved 2016-09-19.
  5. "Islamists bomb Shi'ite shrine in eastern Syria: activists". Reuters. 2014-03-26. Retrieved 2016-09-19.
  6. "Heritage sites ravaged by Syria's war". Al Jazeera English. 2014-12-24. Retrieved 2016-09-19.
  7. Avaneesh Pandey (2013-12-26). "Al-Nusra Rebels Demolish 13th Century Tomb In Southern Syria Deemed Un-Islamic By Salafists". Ibtimes.com. Retrieved 2016-09-19.
  8. Afp (2014-12-24). "War ravages Syria heritage sites". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 2016-03-23. Retrieved 2020-05-09.

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