Al-Dalati Mosque is considered one of the most significant Islamic and historical landmarks on the renowned Al-Hamidiya Street in Homs Governorate. It was named Al-Dalati Mosque after its renovation in 1315 AH (1897 CE), in honor of its builder, Haj Hussein Al-Dalati.
The mosque has carried several names throughout its history. When it was first built, it was named after Sultan Abdul Hamid, and among the townspeople it became popularly known as Al-Dak Mosque. Later, many of its columns and stones were reused in the reconstruction and expansion of the Great Al-Nuri Mosque.
The mosque was originally built in the 1870s when Haj Hussein bin Muhammad Al-Dalati and Haj Ismail bin Khidr bin Ismail Karidiya—both Ottoman Muslims—gathered in the Al-Hamidiya quarter. With funds collected from benevolent donors, charitable contributions, and inheritance, they constructed a mosque on a plot registered under the endowment of the Great Al-Nuri Mosque, with official approval from the legal judge Muhammad Saeed Effendi, dated 29 Rabi‘ al-Thani 1299 AH (1881 CE).
The original building consisted of mudbrick and clay walls, a simple mihrab of mudbrick, and a wooden ceiling, with an entrance opening onto the main street leading from Bab al-Souq to Bab Tadmor. They named it Al-Hamidiya Mosque for the performance of the five daily prayers. With additional funds gathered from donors, they built seven shops as part of the waqf, as well as a public fountain (sabil)—accessible from the street for passersby and from within for worshippers. They also constructed a tall minaret with an octagonal base to carry the voice of the muezzin to the ears of the Muslim community.
The mosque currently occupies an area of 1,578 m². It contains a wooden pulpit for sermons, two mihrabs, a wooden mezzanine, a prayer hall, an ablution area, a well, an open courtyard, a water reservoir for the sabil, and two floors. The ground floor houses 23 shops designated for rent, while the first floor contains four rooms used as a school and a charitable medical clinic affiliated with the endowments.
Like other historic monuments of Homs, Al-Dalati Mosque is distinguished by its characteristic black basalt stones that mark the city’s architectural identity. It stands as part of Homs’ unique heritage, one of the landmarks that must be preserved from neglect and oblivion.
Hassan Safwan Dalati
2009-04-22
