Akre Grand Mosque: 14 centuries of history
Duhok (Kurdistan 24) – The Akre Grand Mosque has been receiving worshippers for 14 centuries, and to this day its doors are still open, showing a rich history.
An ancient mosque of the Kurdistan Region, the grand mosque is located in Duhok province’s city of Akre.
The Grand Mosque of Akre is 1,424 years old. It has features that distinguish it from other mosques in the Kurdistan Region.
Consisting of three floors, one for women, one for men, and the first floor for studies with several classrooms.
A fountain on the open side of the mosque is surrounded by green flowerbeds, various flowers can be seen, and furthermore, a 65 meters high minaret is attached to the mosque along with a dome are two prominent architectural features of the mosque.
The grand worship site was built on three thousand meters of land, on a side of Kali Mountain, one of the highest mountains in the Akre region, it is now surrounded by many houses and buildings.
According to Mullah Muhammed Ahmed Akray, the Imam of the Grand Mosque of Akre, this mosque was built in (20 Hijri) in the year 642.
After Islam entered the region, the Grand Mosque of Akre was the first mosque built in the Kurdistan Region as well as Khurmal Mosque in Halabja.
The mosque was renovated in 1961 changing how its exterior looked originally and the last time three years ago it was renovated again.
The Grand Mosque has been a great center of knowledge and teaching in the history of Akre and the region, graduating many students who became well-known scholars, clerics, and other personalities with different professions.
Besides being a house of worship for Muslims, it was responsible for teaching when there were no schools in the modern sense.
When Ottomans were ruling, the Imams of the Grand Mosque of Akre and lecturers were appointed by Ottomans and when the Iraqi state was created they recognized this mosque as a center of teaching, and so did other governments of Iraq, in 1991 Kurdistan regional government too recognized this mosque and its school.
Many travelers have mentioned this Mosque in their books, including Yaqut Al-Hamawi in the late Abbasid period.
Not only that, but when there were no special courts, this mosque was active in solving many social problems and disagreements.
Mullah Muhammed Ahmed Akray said that clerics from regional countries and from all parts of Kurdistan have studied religious sciences in this mosque, the history of this mosque has attracted even AL-Azhar personalities to visit it in 1956, who was amazed by its history.
Since 1991 around 500 students have graduated from the Grand Mosque of Akre, because the mosque continues to officially teach religious science and Islamic science, graduating a dozen students annually who can then go to universities.