Queen Arwa Mosque Mosque of Queen Arwa bint Ahmad al-Sulayhi
Masjid Al-Malikah Arwā (مَسْجِد ٱلْمَلِكَة أَرْوَى) Masjid Al-Malikah Arwā bint Aḥmad Aṣ-Ṣulayḥī (مَسْجِد ٱلْمَلِكَة أَرْوَى بِنْت أَحْمَد ٱلصُّلَيْحِي)
View of the mosque, nestled in the buildings of Jibla and slopes of theSarat Mountains, as seen from the palace
Religion
Affiliation	Islam
District	Jiblah
Province	Ibb Governorate
Region	South Arabia
Status	Active
Location
Location	Jiblah
Cercle	Jiblah
Country	Yemen
Location in Yemen Show map of Yemen Queen Arwa Mosque (Middle East) Show map of Middle East Queen Arwa Mosque (West and Central Asia) Show map of West and Central Asia
Coordinates	13°55′19.5″N44°08′45.4″E / 13.922083°N 44.145944°E /13.922083; 44.145944
Architecture
Type	Mosque
Style	Yemenite
Completed	1111C.E. (532A.H.) 1358 C.E. (renovation)
Specifications
Dome	2
Minaret	2

TheMosque of Queen Arwa bint Ahmad Al-Sulayhi (Arabic:مَسْجِد ٱلْمَلِكَة أَرْوَى بِنْت أَحْمَد ٱلصُّلَيْحِي‎,romanized: Masjid Al-Malikah Arwā bint Aḥmad Aṣ-Ṣulayḥī), or simply theQueen Arwa Mosque, is a historicalmosque inJibla,Yemen. It was built between 1056 and 1111C.E. by QueenArwa al-Sulayhi and her tomb had later become the site of pilgrimage.^[1][2][3] It retains its importance as one of the oldest ancient Yemeni mosques.^[4] It is also known asHurrat-ul-Malikah Mosque, as the queen was often referred as Al-Malika Al-Hurra, which means "The Noble Queen".

The construction of the mosque is attributed to Queen Arwa bint Ahmad al-Sulayhi, who ruled theSulayhid state of Yemen for the period between 1085 and 1138.^[2] When Queen Arwa moved to the city of Jibla in 1087, she ordered the conversion of the Palace ofDār al-ʿIzz (Arabic:دَار ٱلْعِزّ,lit. 'Home of the Pride') into a mosque. The mosque still retains its architectural and decorative elements of the time which show the extent of the influence ofFatimid architecture.^{[citation needed]}

The complex is rectangular with an open courtyard (17.80 m² × 20.00 m² (191.6 sq ft × 215.3 sq ft)) in the middle, surrounded by four corridors. The wall of theqiblah is located at the northern hallway. The area of theqiblah is accessible through five entrances on the southern side. It consists of four rows of high columns, some octagonal and some rectangular shaped. The roof is directly covered by the ceiling and the hall is covered with wooden beams dating back to the 11th-century, some of which were renewed in 1358. The southern hallway consists of southern wall with two entrances. The eastern hallway consists of two pillars with pointed columns. On the south-side of the western hallway there is a hall currently used as a madrasa for thememorization of the Quran.^{[citation needed]}

• 
  Courtyard
• 
  Carved historical entrance
• 
  Wooden ceiling
• 
  Continuous running water at the mosque
• 
  Minbar

Themihrab is located in the middle of the wall of theqiblah at the northern hallway. It is a simple cavity of about 85 cm deep, and topped by a tapered lace on two poles with floral and geometric motifs. Themihrab is surrounded bykufic inscriptions, which reads as follows: "In the name of God the Most Gracious the Most Merciful I accept your Lord and be among the worshipers and not of the ignorant and worship your Lord until there comes to you the certainty (death)", and decoration of niche from the inside and variety of plant decorations which includes leaves of grapes. On the side of themihrab there is an inscription written in kufic of script fromSurahAt-Taubah 18. Themihrab is painted with modern chemical paint.^{[citation needed]}

The mosque has twominarets, one located on south-east, and another on south-west. The eastern minaret consists of a high square stone based body with sixteen ribs.^{[citation needed]}

• 
  Both of the mosque's minarets, as seen from below
• 
  View from the entrance, January 1970
• 
  As seen from thePalace of Queen Arwa
• 
  View of aminaret, as seen from the courtyard

It was built as ordered by the queen and is located on the north-west corner of the mosque. The site of her tomb was separated from the building of the mosque as she mentioned in her will and told by eyewitnesses and judges. The facade of the mausoleum is adorned with architectural elements, in the form of hollow niches in the eastern wall. Out of four entrances, there are two in the south which have width of 60 cm (24 in), height of 1.60 metres (5.2 feet) and depth of 10 cm (3.9 in). The kufic line is engraved with a prominent kufic floral engraving design andBiblical scripts on the façade.^{[citation needed]}

• 
  Woodentasbih ofHurrat-ul-Malikah
• 
  Mausoleum of the Queen inside the Mosque
• 
  The Queen's grave

• List of mosques in Yemen

• In Arabic
• Queen Arwa Mosque, 11th Century, Jibla, Ibb Governorate, YemenArchived 2021-04-23 at theWayback Machine

• Buildings and structures completed in 1111
• 12th-century mosques in Asia
• Mosques in Yemen

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• Articles with short description
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• Articles with unsourced statements from June 2019
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