Masjid al-‘Ayn

Masjid al-‘Ayn

The garden entrance to the forecourt of Masjid al-‘Ayn (2006).
Photo courtesy of Clive Gracey

Masjid al-‘Ayn is the largest mosque complex within Harat al-Bilad. The entrance to the complex is from the main street, Ka‘b al-Bilad, through a freestanding vaulted gateway, which leads on to the main terrace (sahn/ barrah). A low wall, extending between the gateway and the prayer hall, separate the terrace from the street and contains an external prayer niche (mihrab) for spill-over Friday prayers. Facing the entrance, the free-standing ablution (wudu) area projects partially into an otherwise rectangular terrace. The well (tawi) is in fact a vertical shaft that accesses a seasonal spring (‘ayn), which gives the mosque its particular name. A covered gallery under the eastern edge of the terrace brings the flow out into the garden (zara’) to the east. The northern edge of the main terrace is dominated by the large, cuboid prayer hall with another smaller terrace to its east. The small domical rooftop construction (bumah) – a distinctive feature of Ibadi-Islamic mosques in Oman – accessed by a corner rung ladder and through a roof hatch to announce the call for prayers, is located on the northeast corner of the prayer hall.

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