The late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was keen to build a large number of huge mosques throughout Iraq during the nineties of the last century.

Saddam's mosques were distinguished by their grandeur and unique architectural styles, most notably the Al-Rahman Mosque (in the capital Baghdad), which was scheduled to be one of the largest mosques in the world and bears the name of Saddam, but its construction stopped after the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, and with it other mosques, the dispute continues today over their subordination to the Shiite endowment. Or Sunni.

Al-Rahman Mosque in Baghdad has not been completed (communication sites)

Islamic imprint

Saddam wanted to leave an Islamic footprint in Iraq as part of the campaign of faith that he launched in the 1990s, which included the introduction of Sharia sciences into the joints and stages of Iraqi education.

In order to complete this campaign, he decided to build large mosques for the state in every Iraqi province, according to Sheikh Abdul Razzaq al-Saadi, a member of the Supreme Committee for the Faith Campaign during Saddam's time.

The Great Ramadi Mosque was built during the era of Saddam (Al-Jazeera Net)

Al-Saadi added to Al-Jazeera Net that Saddam built more than one mosque in Baghdad, then established other mosques in Tikrit, Anbar and Nineveh.

It is noteworthy that these mosques had a distinctive architectural style and first-class implementation, and were able to accommodate thousands of worshipers, and became prominent landmarks in the provinces.

Regarding the role of the Faith Campaign Committee in building mosques, Al-Saadi states that he was represented in supervising them in terms of jurisprudential and legal matters, such as placing the pulpit, the mihrab, the direction of the qiblah and others, away from the engineering, technical and financial tasks that were administered by the Office of the Presidency of the Republic.

A professor of archeology at the University of Mosul, a UNESCO advisor, Dr. Ahmed Qassem Jumaa, believes that the importance of mosques for Muslims made everyone who governs Iraq work to revive the old mosques and raise new ones, and this is what happened during Saddam’s era.

Saddam's mosques are wide to accommodate thousands of worshipers (Al-Jazeera Net)

Saddam's attention

Al-Saadi confirms that Saddam used to visit mosque building sites from time to time to follow up the work, meet with the employees and engineers of the engineering department in the Presidency Office and express his views.

Sheikh Al-Saadi narrates how Saddam asked him to write for him the name of every tree and fruit mentioned in the Holy Qur’an, in order for it to be included in the gardens of the Great Mosque in Baghdad (Al-Rahma Mosque now) to be more like a park for families and visitors, pointing out by saying: “Unfortunately, the mosque was not completed, nor was it established. Gardens in the vicinity. "

Juma: The designs of Saddam's mosques were a marriage between Ottoman and traditional Iraqi design (Al-Jazeera Net)

Unique style

Saddam's mosques were distinguished by their large areas, their architectural style and the multiplicity of domes, some of which were similar to the domes of the architect Sinan Pasha in Turkey in the Ottoman era, according to the UNESCO consultant Al-Jazeera Net.

Gomaa explains that some of these mosques are distinguished by a large dome in the middle, then surrounded by multiple domes, and this is to reduce the columns on which they are based, because the large number of columns inside the sanctuary prevent the worshipers from seeing the imam or the preacher.

The designs of these mosques were a marriage between the traditional Ottoman and Iraqi design, according to Jumaa, who shows that the Saddam Mosque in Mosul is characterized by a courtyard in the middle (a courtyard in the middle), then walls surrounding it on 3 sides, and the direction of the qiblah is very large, which is the prayer hall. In front of it is a portico (a long area covered with a roof) and another portico raised on the courtyard.

Sheikh Al-Saadi mentioned that Saddam's mosques were filled with worshipers due to their distinctive architectural character and amenities (Al-Jazeera Net)

In the same context, engineer Abdullah Najib Abboud, director of the Mosul Grand Mosque project (formerly Saddam Mosque), says that all the designs were prepared and implemented by Iraqi engineers.

He adds to Al-Jazeera Net that the material used for coating the external walls is what is locally called "halan" (limestone), which is from factories in the city of Mosul, and the walls inside the campus are also decorated with inscriptions on gypsum.

Regarding the air conditioning and electricity works in those mosques, Abboud explains that they were also carried out by Iraqi cadres, as well as the works of wooden doors, windows and chandeliers were carried out by Iraqi technicians.

Sheikh Al-Saadi points out that these mosques were filled with worshipers, especially on Fridays, because of the distinct character and amenities that they carried, such as ablution places, mattresses, air conditioning or heating, and cleanliness, and people used to go to them on foot or come from far away with their cars.

Ibrahim Azza halted construction of some mosques due to their high costs and the struggle over their dependency (Iraqi Press)

conflict


There are several large mosques whose construction has not been completed, the most important of which is the Al-Rahman Mosque in Baghdad, and the Great Mosque which is located in the area of ​​Al-Muthanna Airport in Baghdad, and it was hoped that it would be the largest of these mosques with a very large area, as stated by the former Director General of Religious Institutions in the Sunni Endowment Diwan Kanaan Bashir Ibrahim.

Ibrahim expressed to Al-Jazeera Net that he believed that the reason for not completing this great mosque after the invasion was due to its great cost and the controversy that took place over its subordination after the division of endowments in Iraq into Sunni and Shiite.

Regarding the ownership of Saddam's mosques, Ibrahim believes that the sectarian majority in the area in which it was built was taken into consideration, because the large construction expenses were from the state and not from a specific person, so it belongs to everyone and follows the sect that represents the majority in the place where the mosque is located.