Mosque 3 Doors
The Three Doors Mosque, also known as the Ibn Khayrun Mosque (مسجد ابن خيرون), is a Tunisian mosque located in the medina of Kairouan.
Built in the 9th century, it has the oldest sculpted and decorated mosque facade in the Islamic world.
History
The mosque, a simple neighborhood oratory, was built around 252 A.D. (866) by the Andalusian merchant living in Kairouan, Muhammed bin Khairūn al-Ma'āfirī al-Andalusī. This is confirmed by Andalusian historian Ibn Idhari (fourteenth century) as well as by the inscription on the facade. Subsequently, the mosque underwent restoration work with the addition of a small minaret during the Hafsid period, around 1440.
The facade, seven meters high, is the most remarkable component of the building. Considered to be one of the finest specimens of Islamic architecture3, it constitutes a veritable inventory of the Kairouan decorative repertoire during the Aghlabid period1. Its arrangement, axial and symmetrical, comprises three paired and horseshoe arches which rest on ancient columns of re-use; the middle one is taller and wider than the other two. The spandrels of the arches are decorated with an exuberant decoration of foliage interspersed with stylized vine leaves with three or five lobes which recall the decoration of the painted wooden dumihrab half-dome of the Great Mosque of Kairouan.
Above the arches, the facade has four bands of rectangular stone panels. The lower one, furnished with Kufic writing, attests to the campaign of restoration and renovation of the mosque carried out under the Hafsid dynasty: “Praise be to God for his blessings. May God bless our master Mohammed. The building of this blessed mosque was renovated in AD 844 [corresponding to the years 1440–1441]. We praise God and we pray for our master Mohammed and his family ”.
Higher up are two calligraphy bands (ninth century) adorned with Kufic script in relief, the letter shafts of which are bevelled and present Koranic verses as well as the name of the founder and the date of construction, which are separated by a frieze at mainly floral decoration; among the motifs stand out pairs of rosettes, eight-branch rosettes made up of five-lobed palmettes or half-florets, as well as eight-petal star-shaped flowers1.
One of these headbands features a quote from verses 70-71 of sura 33 of the Quran: “In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. O you who believe! Fear Allah and speak uprightly so that He improves your actions and forgives you your sins. Whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger certainly achieves great success ”6. The other banner gives precise information on the foundation of the building: “In the name of God the merciful and the benevolent. The decision is up to God alone. So it has been and will be from all eternity. Muhammed bin Khairūn al-Ma'āfirī al-Andalusī decided to build this mosque, to obtain divine favor and in the hope of His forgiveness and mercy, in the year 252 ”.
This harmonious facade is crowned by an upper frieze of stone consoles.