Ashraf AboArafe
Ahmed Issa, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Dr. Mohamed Mukhtar Gomaa, Minister of Endowments, and Major General Khaled Abdel-Aal, Governor of Cairo, inaugurated the development and restoration works of Al-Hakim Mosque, by the command of God, in the presence of Dr. Mostafa Waziri, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.
The governor of Cairo confirmed that the inauguration of Al-Hakim Mosque comes within the framework of implementing the directives of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, President of the Republic, to develop and revive the historic Cairo area, and restore it to its former era, especially the areas of Al-Hakim Mosque, Bab Zuweila, Al-Roum Quarter, Darb Al-Labaneh, Al-Fustat, and Al-Hussein Mosque. And Al-Azhar, with the implementation of a full development of its utility networks.
The Al-Hakim Mosque, by the command of God, is considered the fourth oldest surviving university mosque in Egypt, and the second largest in Cairo after the Ahmed Ibn Tulun mosque. It was built by the Fatimid Caliph Al-Aziz Billah in the year 380 AH / 990 AD, and he died before its completion, so his son Al-Hakim completed it in 403 AH / 1013 AD.
It is considered one of the four remaining Islamic monuments since the ancient era, after the Mosque of Amr Ibn al-Aas in Fustat, the Ahmed Ibn Tulun Mosque in al-Qata’i, and the al-Azhar Sharif Mosque in Cairo. Qaitbay, and from the western side, it overlooks Al-Moez Street.
The mosque of Al-Hakim is rectangular in shape, and it consists of an open middle courtyard surrounded by four porticoes and surmounted by two minarets.
The mosque was inaugurated in 1012 AD, and in 1013 AD, Al-Hakim, by God’s command, issued a decision to convert the mosque into a “mosque” in which jurisprudence was taught, to help Al-Azhar Mosque accommodate scholars and worshipers.
The total area of Al-Hakim Bi-Amr Allah Mosque is about 14,000 square meters, with a length of about 120.5 meters and a width of about 113 meters.
