Al-Awwam is the only mosque with a shrine in Marsa Matrouh, a resort town on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast. It is also the largest and the only mosque with two minarets, and the nearest mosque built to the corniche. Now that’s unique. But who is or was Al-Awwam? The Egyptian Mail learnt his strange, undocumented story from tales uttered by old people living in Matrouh.
His name was Al-Arabi Al-Atrash. The dates of his birth and death are unknown. He was born in the Algerian city of Mostaganem. He and his three nephews sailed to perform hajj (pilgrimage). Al-Awwam died on the way back. He was buried at sea in daylight.
For the following three days, Al-Awwam’s remains kept up with the ship. At night, a light could be seen nearby. Then his remains disappeared. His nephews thought he might have washed up on the nearest coast, which turned out to be Mersa Matrouh.
The body had not decomposed in the shroud, which showed that he was one of the righteous ones. He was given a proper burial and he was called ‘Al-Awwam’ (Swimmer), for whom a shrine was built near the shore.
In 1969, a mosque was built near the shrine, to where his remains were transferred. His body was intact and the mosque was named after him in his honour.
The Mosque of Al-Awwam has a distinctive architectural style with its huge dome between two high minarets. The walls and ceiling are decorated with Islamic ornaments and inscriptions dating back to the Fatimid era.
The mosque with the open courtyard covers an area of 5000 square metres with a green-lit chamber for the shrine, where celebrations were held before they were banned by salafists in the 1980s.
Few locals have much idea about the Al-Awwam Mosque. Marsa Matrouh itself is known as a favourite summer spot for Egyptians and foreigners alike due to its richness of beaches of soft white sand. Of these places is Agiba Beach with its high mountains and waters in white, cyan and dark blue.
Rommel Beach is named after the German field marshal and is one of the most popular beaches.
You can also visit the Rommel Cave Museum, which was originally used as his headquarters to run military operations during WWII.
Cleopatra’s Bath is in the middle of the water, surrounded by rocks on all sides and closed above with openings to allow water to enter with the movement of the tides and admit indirect sunlight, which heats the water.
Al-Ameed Reserve with its sand dunes, swamps, salt flats, valleys and depressions, is home to 170 species of plants, of which some are medicinal and others are used in the manufacture of oils, fuels and soap.
Animals in the reserve include rabbits, foxes, chameleons, gerbils, deer and migratory and sedentary birds of prey.
While not an antiquity, Al-Awwam Mosque is worth a visit.
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