Image Gallery of Ibn ʿUthmān Mosque (Jāmiʿ Ibn ʿUthmān, Jāmiʿ al-Shajāʿiyya), Sūq al-Kabīr, al- (çarşı), Shajāʿiyya/Turkumān, Gaza
Please note that this section is work in progress. We continue to collect and analyse images. If you would like to share images, please write to Sarah Büssow.
In the centre of Shajāʿiyya's market district. According to Sadeq (art. "Gaza, art and architecture" in EI3) the mosque is the only Mamlūk congregational mosque with saḥn (courtyard) and riwāq (colonnades) outside the former city walls of Gaza. The name refers to shaykh Shihāb al-Dīn Aḥmad b. ʿUthmān (d. in Mecca in 805/1402) (ʿAṭā’allāh, 229). According to Sadeq (art. "Gaza"), six foundation and endowment naskhī inscriptions describe the building stages during the Mamluk period. The facade of the qibla riwāq is richly decorated with stone mouldings and inscriptions. According to Tabbāʿ (Tabbāʿ, vol. 2, pp. 137-139), the Mamluk sultan Al-Ẓāhir Barqūq is buried in this mosque (d. 850H) and there is a burial cave in the mosque, dated to the days of the Crusades.- Noted scholar Aḥmad Busaysū was appointed imām, khaṭīb and teacher at this mosque in 1296 / 1878-9 (Tabbāʿ, Ithaf, vol. 4, p. 300).
Information from Visit Palestine website http://visitpalestine.ps/where-to-go/listing/gaza/sites-attractions-gaza/historical-sites-gaza/ibn-othman-mosque/ (accessed 22 February 2018):
"The Ibn Othman Mosque is located in the Shijaiah District, and is the second largest mosque in Gaza City, after Al Omari Mosque. The Mosque was named after Shahab Addeen Ben Othman, a religious scholar who lived in the Gaza Strip, whose origin is traced back to the city of Nablus. The oldest part of the Mosque dates back to July, 1400AD, according to inscriptions found on its southern entrance. The tomb of Prince Yalkheja, who died in 1446 AD, is located in the western corridor of the Mosque. He was the Governor of Gaza, as appointed by the Mamluk Sultan Barqooq the first sultan of the turret Mamluks.
The present building was constructed architecturally much like the Al Omari Mosque. It has a wide courtyard in the center, surrounded by four corridors. The front of the Mosque has two entry points with pointed arches, and the minaret is laid on a square framework between them. This architectural style was typical of the Mamluks. The front of the Qibla, indicating the direction of the Kabba in Mecca, is also an example of the Mamluk style of decoration on stone. The Qibla is adorned with beautiful geometric and plant motifs, and the inscription records the date of its construction, March 1431AD. The inscription also shows the name of the builder, Alem Addeen Sinjar, president of the local administration of Gaza City at the time. The platform of the Mosque is made of marble and adorned with traditional Arabic decorations and a small dome over the orator’s seat."
The Gaza court records mention buildings in the immediate vicinity of the mosque: maṣbaghat waqf Jāmiʿ Ibn ʿUthmān, maʿṣarat Awlād Hạtḥat, Dār ʿAlī b. Sālim Mahānī. In 1857, a house belonging to Shaʿbān Busaysū (a son of Ahmad Busaysū) was sold to Muḥammad Rashīd Aghā al-Jabrī al-Dimashqī for the price of 15,100 kuruş (Sijill Ghazza, p. 5).
