Great Mosque of the Qasaba

• Name : Great Mosque of the Qasaba
• Place : Tunis, Tunisia
• Construction date/period : AH 629–633/AD 1231–1235; minaret completed in 1282.
• Construction materials : Stone; marble; stucco
• Architectural pattern : Sculpted marble
• Recipient/Mandatory : Abū Zakariyā’ Yahyā al-Hāfsi, founder of the Hafsid dynasty
• Author : Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Qāsim, supervisor of the construction of the minaret
• Inscriptions :

  Inscriptions in Naskhi script

  - Framing string-course: “I seek refuge from God against Satan, the stoned one. In the name of God the Kind and Merciful. God’s Blessing and Peace on our Master Muhammad and his family.”"أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم وصلى الله على سيدنا محمد وعلى آله"

  - Area partitioned off by the arch and small columns: “Al-‘Amir al-Mu’ayyad Abū Zakariyā’ Yahyā b. Abī Muhammad ‘Abd al-Wahīd son of Sheikh Abū Hafs, the humble servant of God, who desires the mercy of his Lord, ordered the construction of this and put great care into raising it to a great height and embellishing it. [This was carried out] to glorify religion, honour the community of Muslims, respect the instructions of God’s messenger among the obligations of the religion. God’s Blessing and total Peace on him” + Qur. XXVI, 88–89: “and awaiting [from God] the salvation of the day when wealth or children will not avail anyone except one who brings to God a pure heart.” +  Qur. XXX, 4-5: “Only for Allah is the command, before and after; on that day believers will rejoice in the help of God. He helps whomever He wills; and only He is the Almighty, the Most Merciful. There is no strength or power but in God the High, the Immense.” “[This was completed] Friday 7 Safar in the year 633 / 22 October 1235.”

  - Right-hand plaque: “Blessing in the name of God, the Kind, the Merciful. God’s Blessing and Peace on our master Muhammad and his family. Yahyā son of Abū Muhammad son of Sheikh Abū Hafs, the humble servant of God, who desires the mercy of his Lord, ordered the construction of this minaret and put great care into raising it to a great height. [This was carried out] to glorify religion, honour the community of Muslims, respect the instructions of God’s messenger - God’s Blessing and Peace on him.”

  - Left-hand plaque: “Blessing. Blessing. Among the obligations [of the religion]. God’s Blessing and total Peace on him awaiting salvation [from God]”. + Qur. XXVI, 88-89: “The day when wealth or children will not avail anyone except one who brings to God a pure heart.” + Qur. XXX, 4-5: “Only for Allah is the command, before and after; on that day believers will rejoice in the help of God. He helps whomever He wills; and only He is the Almighty, the Most Merciful. There is no strength or power but in God the High, the Immense.” “[The minaret] was completed in the first ten-day period of the holy month of Ramadan in the year 630 / 11-20 June 1233. The supervisor of the construction [of the minaret] was their employee ‘Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Qāsim. The general contractor for the construction, may God grant him benefit from it, ordered the construction of this minaret, blessed by devotion to God the humble servant of his Lord, in this indigence is his wealth. The one who takes refuge in Him in all his adversity, and whose one and only support is in Him, may He be exalted, Emir Ibrahim son of Emir Abū Zakariyyā b. Abī Muhammad son of Sheikh Abū Hafs. He built it as a symbol of the path that must be followed and of repentance. He built it as a ladder that would allow all the invocations to rise [towards heaven] in the hope that [at least] one will be accepted and accompanied with the hope for pardon and acceptance. May it [also] be a safeguard against the fear of the Day of Judgement and the baring [before God] in the hope of obtaining a supreme reward in a Paradise that would encompass heaven and earth. The construction [of the minaret] was completed at the beginning of the venerated month of Ramadan in the year 681/December 1282.”

[1] Kutubiyya (Marrakech, twelfth c.), Mosque of the Qasaba (Marrakech, 1235), Mosque of Hassan (Rabat, twelfth c.)