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The Mosque of Abu Haggag is
situated in Luxor, Egypt, standing on the top of the Luxor
Temple`s ruins, which was a worship centre dating from the
pharaoh Amenhotep III`s reign (14th century BC). Built in the
Luxor Temple North-East area, the mosque has the design of the
Fatimid mosques like Al-Mashhad el-Bahari situated on the Nile’s
bank or the Esna Mosque situated in Aswan. The mosque suffered
some changes in the Ayyubit times. The mosque’s entrance is
placed on the West side and has 3 arches of 12 meters each; the
arches are covered with faience and marble. Inside the Mosque of
Abu Haggag is a niche with a simple design without any
ornaments. The mosque has also a little grave that is the Yousef
Ibn Abdel-Raheem`s burial place. A line of balconies are on the
mosque’s top; these balconies were made from baked bricks. The
mosque was restored by Khedive Abbas Helmy II in 1914. The
mosque was build atop the pharaoh’s columns which may seem
invasive and precarious but when it was built, most of the
temple’s parts were covered by land. There was tentative of
tearing down the mosque but the locals totally rejected it. Abu
Hagagg was born in Baghdad but the last half of his life (of 90
years) he lived in Luxor. The mosque minaret dates back from the
11th century, so it could be older than Abu Haggag. It was
completely rebuilt in the 19th century after many other
improvements. Abu Haggag is considered the principal saint of
Luxor, and his mosque the heart of the local activities with
religious specific. The local people think that the Mosque of
Abu Haggag is an important religious place full of divine
blessing (baraka). |
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