Syria: Great Umayyad Mosque in Aleppo Reopens After 13-Year Closure - Sarmad
The official Syrian Al-Ikhbariya channel quoted Aleppo Governor Azam al-Gharib as saying during the mosque’s inauguration: “Today, we are honored to reopen one of the houses of God, restoring Aleppo’s great mosque after years of hardship marked by betrayal and destruction, and writing a new chapter of construction, freedom, and dignity.”
The governor added: “Since the dawn of the Umayyad era, this great edifice has been part of the story of glory in the city of history, serving as a center of knowledge and enlightenment. Its courtyards have hosted scholars, preachers, and thinkers across the ages.”
He noted that “the mosque never abandoned the revolution of truth and dignity; it served as a refuge for revolutionaries, and demonstrations against tyranny emerged from its gates,” referring to the Syrian Revolution that began on March 18, 2011, and culminated in the fall of the Assad regime on December 8, 2024.
The governor continued: “Congratulations to the people of Aleppo on the return of this great edifice, which will once again illuminate the path of those who walk its way and reclaim its place in the city’s history and present.”
He recalled “the righteous martyrs of the Syrian Revolution who attained martyrdom in this mosque and its surroundings, and we ask God to have mercy on them.”
According to Syrian media, the mosque experienced one of the most violent and destructive periods in its history between 2012 and 2016, when the surrounding area became a direct frontline between the forces of the ousted regime and opposition factions at the time.
Both sides alternated control over the mosque, but the regime’s repeated aerial and ground bombardments caused the most severe damage, forcing it out of service in 2013 after large sections of its dome, courtyards, and its famous minaret—once an architectural symbol of old Aleppo—collapsed.
Following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, the Aleppo Waqf Directorate began restoring the mosque “in accordance with standards that preserve its architectural and heritage specificity.”
The mosque is one of the oldest and most important in Syria, with its construction dating back to the Umayyad era in 716 CE. Most sources indicate that Caliph Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik ordered its construction.
The mosque retained its ancient character and its spiritual and scholarly significance, remaining a destination for worshippers, students, and visitors from within and outside the city across the ages, until the recent war waged by the ousted regime added a new chapter of destruction to its history, characterized by ground and aerial bombardment.
