Al-Azhar Mosque opens for prayer in 971.
It was commissioned for construction by Al-Mu’izz li-Din Allah of the Fatimid dynasty in the new capital of Egypt in 970 and built by the builder of Egypt, Gawhar El-Seqelly. Construction began on April 04th, 970.
Cairo’s historic Al-Azhar mosque was the first artistic architectural building constructed by the Fatimids, the Islamic dynasty that ruled Egypt, North Africa and parts of the Arabian Peninsula from the tenth to the twelfth centuries.
Previously called ‘Cairo’s Mosque,’ Al-Azhar was named after the Prophet Mohammed’s daughter Fatimah al-Zahraa.
Because it was the first mosque and the first Islamic university to be built in Cairo, the city was named since then “The City of A Thousand Minarets”. After Al Karaouine in Idrisid Fes, which is a university in Morocco, Al-Azhar has developed to be the second most important university in the world.
Al-Azhar mosque was later turned into a university under the ruling of a senior Fatimid Islamic scholar Al-Aziz Billah. The university included 37 scholars who carried out religious teachings and dormitories to accommodate students.
After operating as an educational platform, Al-Azhar mosque was shut down in 1171 for 100 years under the auspices of the Ayyubid caliphate.
The historical mosque was later reopened by Mamluk Sultan al-Zaher Baybars in 1266.
Al-Azhar was first renovated following an earthquake in 1302.
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