The lighthouse of the Caliphs Mosque in Baghdad is threatened with collapse ... and the authorities are indifferent despite its historical position

Fill with the rusafa and cry its worn out quarter .. Stand with its collector if you are so worried

And look with your eyes at the edges of his yard .. Could you find a trace of a high man?

So his lighthouse in the air is lofty .. How much I told about him in what was said and in what he said

With these words, the poet Abd al-Qadir bin Abdullah al-Bazzaz al-Abadi, known as Abd al-Qadir Shinon, who died in 1910, portrayed the Mosque and Minaret of the Caliphs.

The Caliphs Mosque in Baghdad, along with the Mansur and Rusafa universities, is its largest historical mosque, in which Friday prayers were held during the last four centuries of the Abbasid Caliphate.

According to specialists, the last few years Milan has clearly witnessed the minaret of the Caliphs Mosque, which may expose it to collapse, and despite the great inclination of the lighthouse, the authorities have not yet taken any concrete measures to save it.

Al-Janabi considered that the maintenance of the Caliphs Mosque and its minaret was delayed due to the financial crisis afflicting the country (Al-Jazeera)

Barriers

The director of religious institutions in the Sunni Endowment Office, Amer Al-Janabi, said that the maintenance of the Caliphs Mosque and its minaret was delayed due to the financial crisis afflicting the country.

He told Al-Jazeera Net that the restoration and rehabilitation of the mosque requires complex approvals from the Iraqi Ministry of Culture, given that the mosque is a historical monument.

He pointed out that the endowment took the initiative to place reinforcements for the lighthouse to prevent its fall.

Al-Janabi added that the rehabilitation of the lighthouse and the mosque requires large sums of money, as the historical places need experts and specialized supervision, pointing out that the Office of the Endowment raised a project to restore the mosque.

The Caliphs Mosque includes an eight-shaped chapel hall topped by a dome decorated in Kufic script, with a height of about 7 meters, in addition to the basic height of the building, which is about 14 meters, and there are 3 corridors leading to the prayer hall.

The lighthouse of the caliphs, the Baghdadi calls it the lighthouse Souk al-Ghazl (Al-Jazeera Net)

The oldest lighthouse

The historical historian Ali Al-Nashmi says to Al-Jazeera Net that the mosque was built in the third century AH during the time of the Caliph who is satisfied with God, meaning that its lighthouse has been standing for more than 1200 years, considering it to be one of the oldest lighthouses in the world.

Al-Nashmi added that the Baghdadi people call the lighthouse of the Caliphs Mosque "the lighthouse of the Ghazl market" in reference to the well-known popular market, as the mosque was restored in the 1960s without prejudice to the lighthouse in order to preserve its archaeological value.

The Iraqi historian pointed out that neglect was evident on the mosque, especially the bending lighthouse, without this being matched by any governmental action to protect the historical edifice.

Al-Nashmi warned that the Caliphs Mosque is located in an area that contains underground water, which may expose it to erosion or collapse with the passage of time.

And the Mosque of the Caliphs was built between (289-295 AH, 902-908 AD), and it was mentioned by the traveler Ibn Battuta when he visited Baghdad in the knowledge of 727 AH, 1327 AD.

The mosque’s lighthouse was considered the highest lighthouse that Baghdad could be seen from its minaret, and its height was 35 meters. The lighthouse fell and the mosque was demolished in 670 AH, 1271 AD, and they were rebuilt in 678 AH, 1279 AD.

The popular spinning market is located next to the Al-Khulafa Mosque (the island)

British Commission

A spokesman for the Ministry of Culture, Ahmed Al-Olaya, commented on the delay in restoring the Al-Khalifa Mosque, saying that the rehabilitation of the mosque and its minaret is not easy, because this site extends for hundreds of years and is the façade of historical Baghdad, and therefore needs in-depth studies before the start.

Al-Olaywi pointed out that there is a British expert committee studying how to rehabilitate the Al-Khalifa Mosque, especially as it suffers from several problems, most notably the presence of sewage water pipes in the area, which directly affect the infrastructure of the mosque and threaten to collapse.

He added to Al-Jazeera Net that the ministry, in cooperation with the British Committee, had drawn up the necessary engineering plans to rehabilitate the mosque and its minaret, awaiting approval for the implementation to begin.

The dome of the Caliphs Mosque is decorated from the inside with Kufic script and reaches a height of about 7 meters (Al-Jazeera)

Abbasid monuments

In addition, the Iraqi researcher in Islamic history Karim Al-Araji considers the Caliph Mosque to be one of the important historical mosques for Iraq in general and Baghdad in particular.

He pointed out to Al-Jazeera Net that the history of the mosque dates back to the ancient Abbasid era and was built mainly for Friday prayers, and it was called the Qasr Mosque at first, and then it was transformed into the Caliph Mosque, and then it was called the Mosque of the Caliphs.

Al-Araji considered that the Mosque of the Caliphs and its minaret are among the last remaining relics of the Abbasid state in Iraq, urging the concerned authorities to take care of it.

The local government of Baghdad has no role in caring for the historical monuments in the capital, this is what the Director of the Cultural Center in Baghdad Governorate, Talib Issa, said, explaining to Al-Jazeera Net that the local government is satisfied with communicating with the Ministry of Culture and the Sunni and Shiite endowments in order to urge them to pay attention to historical places.

Cracks at the base of the lighthouse of the Caliphs Mosque (Al-Jazeera)

For its part, the Municipality of Baghdad considered during Al-Jazeera Net's communication with it that the historical monuments in the capital - including the Mosque of the Caliphs - "are not within our competence."

It should be noted that Baghdad is rich in Islamic monuments, including the remains of the Baghdad Wall, the House of Caliphate, the Al-Mustansiriya School, which houses the Al-Mustansiriya Exotic School Clock, the headquarters of Al-Mu'tasim, the Great Imam Abu Hanifa Mosque, the Ahmadiyya Mosque and others.