Jan 14 - A standing wall in a ruinous, ancient mosque with what appears to be a mihrab at the right, handy to the ruins of the famous 7th cent. Al-Qiblatayn mosque, Zeila
I had thought this was a remnant of the famous, 7th cent. Mashid-al-Qiblatayn, the legendary double mihrab in fact. (There was no-one @ to ask.) It was a short-lived fad in mosque construction in the 7th cent., in Islam's earliest days, to include 2 mihrabs, one oriented to the north to Mecca, and the other to the NW to Jerusalem. But the one on the right does appear to be a mihrab. The Masjid-al-Qiblatayn had stood just west of where I'm standing to take this where at least one frail, almost free-standing mihrab of field-stones and adobe stood then, and which has since been stabilized. The arch on the left in this shot seems to have been an entrance or a window as it matched 2 identical arches which stood until recently to their left at a right angle in part of a wall, as I've seen in some photos. sagalnews.com/somaliland-oo-dib-u-dhisaysa-masjidka-qiblo... The famous mihrab of the Masjid-al-Qiblatayn can be seen at the 4:40 and 12:52 min. pt. and again several times further in this video.: www.youtube.com/watch?v=saMFf7LhbQQ It would've collapsed if I'd so much as leaned on it. (I'll upload a photo of it sometime.) Anyone who can understand Somali, please paraphrase the info. re these mihrabs or qiblas in a comment if you would.
- There's some speculation and confusion about this online.: www.somalispot.com/threads/preserving-the-masjid-with-two...
- "The Masjid [al-Qiblatayn] dates to the 7th cent., shortly after the hijra ... and contains the tomb of Sheikh Babu Dena." (Wikipedia) If it does date from the 600s, then it just might be the oldest standing (more or less) or its mihrab might be the oldest on the African continent, and it would be the oldest mosque that's not on the Arabian peninsula. The competition is the early 7th cent. 'Mosque of the Companions' in Massawa, Eritrea on the Red Sea coast. (I suspect the mihrab's the oldest standing structure in the country that isn't a cairn or menhir, but I haven't found a list online dating the oldest shrines and tombs.) It's also an international rarity having or having had an ancient double mihrab.
- "The construction of this mosque is tied to the history of Islam in Somaliland. In Zeila, an Issa city, the mosque Masjid al-Qiblatayn is known as the site where early companions of the Prophet, and local Somalis, established a mosque shortly after the first migration to Abyssinia. By the 7th cent., a large-scale conversion to Islam was taking place in Somaliland, first spread by the Dir people, from their construction of this mosque, to the rest of the region afterwards." (Wikipedia)
- Update 2019: I've just seen some more recent photos online of this structure with a view of the arch on the right with the 2 square windows and the columns with the rosettes intact, but missing the left half of the structure with the arch on the left. Couldn't the government in Hargeisa do something to protect this? Would it be such a trick to build something around it to help preserve it? See p. 4 of the article in this link: cpahorn.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Zeila-Neglected-Hi...
- www.somalispot.com/threads/masjid-al-qiblatayn-in-zeila.9...
- Further update 2021: It seems that at least the lone mud-brick mihrab at the site of the Al-Qiblatayn mosque (the one facing Jerusalem?) has some protection now. See it at the 36 sec. pt. in this video just after the narrator is heard to say the word 'Qiblatayn'..: www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_JUUvjhWEI But, unbelievably, the mihrab in my photo is worse still. See it at the 6:47 min. pt. in this video.: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kvivFrwIqM And where's the minaret? :(
Jan 14 - A standing wall in a ruinous, ancient mosque with what appears to be a mihrab at the right, handy to the ruins of the famous 7th cent. Al-Qiblatayn mosque, Zeila
I had thought this was a remnant of the famous, 7th cent. Mashid-al-Qiblatayn, the legendary double mihrab in fact. (There was no-one @ to ask.) It was a short-lived fad in mosque construction in the 7th cent., in Islam's earliest days, to include 2 mihrabs, one oriented to the north to Mecca, and the other to the NW to Jerusalem. But the one on the right does appear to be a mihrab. The Masjid-al-Qiblatayn had stood just west of where I'm standing to take this where at least one frail, almost free-standing mihrab of field-stones and adobe stood then, and which has since been stabilized. The arch on the left in this shot seems to have been an entrance or a window as it matched 2 identical arches which stood until recently to their left at a right angle in part of a wall, as I've seen in some photos. sagalnews.com/somaliland-oo-dib-u-dhisaysa-masjidka-qiblo... The famous mihrab of the Masjid-al-Qiblatayn can be seen at the 4:40 and 12:52 min. pt. and again several times further in this video.: www.youtube.com/watch?v=saMFf7LhbQQ It would've collapsed if I'd so much as leaned on it. (I'll upload a photo of it sometime.) Anyone who can understand Somali, please paraphrase the info. re these mihrabs or qiblas in a comment if you would.
- There's some speculation and confusion about this online.: www.somalispot.com/threads/preserving-the-masjid-with-two...
- "The Masjid [al-Qiblatayn] dates to the 7th cent., shortly after the hijra ... and contains the tomb of Sheikh Babu Dena." (Wikipedia) If it does date from the 600s, then it just might be the oldest standing (more or less) or its mihrab might be the oldest on the African continent, and it would be the oldest mosque that's not on the Arabian peninsula. The competition is the early 7th cent. 'Mosque of the Companions' in Massawa, Eritrea on the Red Sea coast. (I suspect the mihrab's the oldest standing structure in the country that isn't a cairn or menhir, but I haven't found a list online dating the oldest shrines and tombs.) It's also an international rarity having or having had an ancient double mihrab.
- "The construction of this mosque is tied to the history of Islam in Somaliland. In Zeila, an Issa city, the mosque Masjid al-Qiblatayn is known as the site where early companions of the Prophet, and local Somalis, established a mosque shortly after the first migration to Abyssinia. By the 7th cent., a large-scale conversion to Islam was taking place in Somaliland, first spread by the Dir people, from their construction of this mosque, to the rest of the region afterwards." (Wikipedia)
- Update 2019: I've just seen some more recent photos online of this structure with a view of the arch on the right with the 2 square windows and the columns with the rosettes intact, but missing the left half of the structure with the arch on the left. Couldn't the government in Hargeisa do something to protect this? Would it be such a trick to build something around it to help preserve it? See p. 4 of the article in this link: cpahorn.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Zeila-Neglected-Hi...
- www.somalispot.com/threads/masjid-al-qiblatayn-in-zeila.9...
- Further update 2021: It seems that at least the lone mud-brick mihrab at the site of the Al-Qiblatayn mosque (the one facing Jerusalem?) has some protection now. See it at the 36 sec. pt. in this video just after the narrator is heard to say the word 'Qiblatayn'..: www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_JUUvjhWEI But, unbelievably, the mihrab in my photo is worse still. See it at the 6:47 min. pt. in this video.: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kvivFrwIqM And where's the minaret? :(