Al Qebeb Mosque: Discover the History of One of Qatar's Oldest Mosques

Al Qebeb mosque in Doha, Qatar's capital, has a plan similar to the Al-Masjid an-Nabawi “Prophet's Mosque”, and it stands as a witness to a distinctive Islamic architecture in form and design that has stood the test of time to reflect the era of the state's creation.

This mosque comes from the time of Qatar's founder, Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed Al-Thani, and its origins may be traced back to Al-Zubarah area, where the founder went to fight one of the tribes after some of its members seized property belonging to his subjects

The Sheikh besieged the castle for a time before storming it, and inside he discovered a mosque with a roof made up of numerous domes that drew his interest.

When Sheikh Jassim returned to Doha's Al-Bidda area, he asked a well-known architect named "Al-Humaili" to go to Al-Zubarah and see the mosque of Qal’at Murair and build him a similar mosque. So "Al-Humaili" went to Al-Zubarah and saw the mosque and returned and built a mosque that is similar to the mosque of Qalaat.

The Mosque's Structure

The layout of this mosque is identical to that of the Prophet's mosque; it consists of a house of prayer erected on three rows of massive square columns, with four corridors running in the direction of the Qibla, as well as two corridors on the other side, i.e. the South.

The minaret and a large room in its center are on the east side, while the mihrab, also known as the "retreat," is on the west side and may be entered from inside the mosque's annex.

The construction details reveal the use of common architectural techniques that have advanced to a high level of science and knowledge, both in terms of material economy and effort, as well as endurance and adaptation to nature, as the narrators recall that when it was raining heavily and their mud houses were falling apart, they found no one in Doha who could protect them from the rain except Al Qebeb mosque. The mosque, which was built in 1878 and has stood without major repairs for more than 100 years, has numerous anecdotes to tell about its uniqueness in Qatar and the Gulf area.

Mosque Design

The prayer house is the most important part of the mosque, and it was surrounded by a wall on three sides: north, west, and south, with four windows for ventilation and lighting on the north side, and six windows with mihrab on the west side, the south side is identical to the north side, and the east side was open with 11 arches on the mosque's courtyard, and the roof was built with a Dome system.

The top of the Al Qebeb mosque was made up of 44 domes, plus two smaller domes that covered the mihrab roof.

Because of its connection to the founder Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed Al-Thani, citizen Hamad Al-Kaabi claims that the Al Qebeb mosque is one of the most important mosques in Qatar and one of the most attached to the hearts of Qataris.

Al-Kaabi, who is in his sixties, tells Al-Jazeera that he has wanted to come to the mosque to pray for nearly 30 years because it provides him with psychological comfort and a sense of great reverence, especially in light of the mosque's old folk architecture, which reflects the advanced stage reached by the Qatari people in terms of design.