Al-Hakim: a place to idle

One of Cairo’s most hospitable places is the al-Hakim mosque located at the northern end of al-Muizz Street. Here is a short description of the building from Archnet:

This mosque, also known as al-Anwar, ‘the illuminated’, was begun in 990 under the Caliph al-‘Aziz but was not completed until 12 years later under the Caliph al-Hakim. At the time of its construction this mosque was outside the city but was later incorporated within the city walls of Badr al-Jamali. In its general design the mosque resembles those of lbn Tulun and al-Azhar. It has a central rectangular courtyard surrounded by an arcade of pointed arches resting on brick piers. A raised transept runs from the courtyard to the mihrab. There were three domes on the qibla side. one in front of the mihrab and one in either corner. The front facade has a projecting entrance flanked by two cylindrical minarets decorated with inscriptions and carved bands. Read more, here.

The building, which had many uses over its thousand year history (a prison during the Crusades, a stable by Saladin, a fortress by Napoleon, and a school as recently as the 1960s), has been renovated in 1980 by the India-based Dawoodi Bohra. The building today is minimalist in its decoration, almost modernist in its simplicity. Cairo’s two oldest minarets belong to this building. The floors are a covered in white marble and the walls are painted a light cream. Blue/green fabric hangs in the arches surrounding the central court. Gallery after gallery are framed by the grid of piers. In square footage, the mosque is the second largest in Cairo, after Ibn Tulun. The deep perspectives, vast space, washed out whitness of the spaces and the relative quietness of the place makes the mosque ideal for some contemplation and relaxing.

Besides being a tourist attraction, depending on the time one might see teenagers hanging out, children playing, a man sleeping, couples conversing, and a wide range of  activities other than prayer. In fact, except for Fridays’ Noon Prayer the mosque is used more as an open public space rather than a solely prayer space. In many ways the mosque is a reminder of the an early tradition where mosques acted as community spaces, they were places for many activities beyond worship. People of both genders meet there to socialize or relax. It is a secular space, a public space.

Outside the mosque is a small triangular public space with trees and benches. It is the only such space along the renovated Muizz Street. The contrast between the streetside designed public space and the inside of the mosque is a remarkable experience. The shift between the two spaces makes clear that “public space” isn’t a fixed set of values and behaviors combined with a set spatial definition. Both the inside and the outside of the mosque provide different forms of public space. Al-Hakim mosque allows for the experience of being in “public” yet having the ability to retreat in a quiet corner, sit under a pier and idle.