Masjid ash-Sharah

Masjid ash-Sharah

Masjid ash-Sharah, eastern façade showing the position of the diminutive domical structure (bumah) on the north-eastern corner and the external mihrab (1994).
Photo courtesy of Soumyen Bandyopadhyay

Masjid ash-Sharah is accessed from the main street, Ka‘b al-Bilad. Its name derives from the word shari, a term attributed to the true Ibadi. A narrow, winding lane provides secondary access to the terrace (sahn) and the ablution (wudu) area from the south. Locked between the entrance and the prayer hall is a narrow, wedge-shaped meeting hall (sablah), which was used by the community before or after the five daily prayers. The prayer hall façade facing the terrace has a shallow prayer niche (mihrab) built into the wall between the two symmetrically disposed doors and contains remnants of scalloped gypsum (juss) decoration, crowned by a rectilinear frame with stipple motif in bass relief. Inside the prayer hall, at the centre of the wall facing the direction of prayer (qibla), is the decorated mihrab set within a rectilinear decorated frame in gypsum, now painted green. The hall interior is divided into two bays by a single three-arched arcade. The mihrab was crafted in 1516-1517 CE by ‘Abdallah bin Qasim bin Muhammad al-Humaymi, an artisan from Harat al-Bilad, who also executed the mihrabs in the mosques, al-‘Ali and al-‘Ayn.

The front (i.e. east-facing) façade of Masjid ash-Sharah (lit. Mosque of the Sellers), with external prayer niche in the centre of the façade and rooftop bumah.
Photo courtesy of Clive Gracey
Masjid ash-Sharah, plan. Drawing courtesy of Soumyen Bandyopadhyay https://issuu.com/archiam/docs/manah_catalogue
Masjid ash-Sharah, plan. Drawing courtesy of Soumyen Bandyopadhyay
Masjid ash-Sharah, detail of grating above door.
Photo courtesy of Soumyen Bandyopadhyay
Detail of the mihrab showing inset Chinese porcelain bowls.
Photo courtesy of Clive Gracey
The carved stucco mihrab is the work of Abdallah bin Qasim bin Muhammad Al-Humaymi and dates from 922 AH/1516-7 CE. The mihrab would originally have been unpainted, the green gloss coat being a modern application.
Photo courtesy of Clive Gracey
The external prayer niche, possibly carved by Abdullah bin Qasim bin Muhammad al-Humaimi.
Photo courtesy of Clive Gracey

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