The Mosque of Abu'l Haggag at Luxor Temple
The Mosque of Abu'l Haggag at Luxor Temple
One of the most famous mosques in Luxor and Upper Egypt, the Luxor Sufi Pole Mosque dates back to the venerable scholar Yusuf bin Abdulrahim bin Isa al-Zahid, who was born in the late sixth century in the city of Baghdad and came from there to Luxor in the Ayyubid era.
In Ramadan, the mosque will host several religious activities, organized by the Luxor Endowments Directorate, and science circles in conjunction with Al-Azhar scholars. Outside the mosque, Sufi schools are participating in praise circles for the Prophet's biography, religious chanting, and praise of the Prophet (peace be upon him).
Luxor's Abul Hajjaj Square is home to many events organized by the Culture Palaces Authority, as well as other cultural events, folk arts and Ramadan cultural nights. When the Sufi pole Abu al-Hajjaj came to Luxor, at that time Luxor was owned by a Coptic princess called “Therese bint al-Qums”, so Abu al-Hajjaj wanted to own a piece of land next to the Luxor Temple, so he asked her to give him that piece, which is the size of a camel's skin, and she agreed immediately As a result, he made ropes of camel skin that encircled the entire city, including the ruins of a church built on the Luxor Temple, and thus the Abu al-Hajjaj Mosque in Luxor embraces three civilizations, “Pharaonic, Islamic and Coptic.”
After the death of Sidi Abu Al-Hajjaj, his son Sheikh Ahmed Najm built a mosque in memory of his father in 658 AH-1286 AD over the ruins of the Luxor Temple, indicating that the Abu Al-Hajjaj Mosque has a dome, called the minaret, consisting of three layers, and at the top of it is a group of windows and openings.
It is considered one of the unique Islamic monuments, and the entrance to the mosque overlooks the Luxor Temple, and has inscriptions and drawings, recording the history of its construction, in terms of the old minaret that was built in the Mamluk era, and the modern minaret, which was built in the Abbasid era.
The mosque is described as having all 18 of its interior columns inscribed with ancient Egyptian writings, and the artist was creative in covering the columns with a sandstone mortar to preserve the inscriptions and decorations from destruction and distortion.
The mosque mixes three civilizations, as it belongs to the Islamic civilization, but it was built on the ruins of a church built over a Pharaonic temple, so as you pray inside the mosque, you find in front of you a hollow oyster in one of the ancient temple columns and you see a frieze with ancient Egyptian inscriptions and writings, and around and inside many columns with hieroglyphic writings and scenes.
