Hyderabad: As one steps inside the Masjid-e-Alamgir, Idgah Guttala at Begumpet, one cannot help but notice some peculiarities that no other mosque in Hyderabad, and perhaps across India, has.
These peculiarities became all the more obvious after the management committee built a huge new structure over the old Qutb Shahi-era masjid while taking pains to retain the original.
The new structure encompasses the original masjid from all sides.
The visitor’s attention is immediately drawn to the fact that the original mosque does not face towards the Kaaba, but it is askew by about 25 degrees to 30 degrees to the south.
According to a fatwa (edict) by the Jamia Nizamia, the original builders of the masjid had made an error in calculating the direction of the Qibla (the direction of the Kaaba).
All Muslims are required to pray in the direction of the Kaaba, wherever on earth they might be.
Incidentally, the most famous mosque in the world that originally did not face the Kaaba is the Masjid-e-Qiblatain, in Madina, Saudi Arabia.
Before it was mandatory for Muslims to turn towards the Kaaba while offering prayers, the Qibla was towards Jerusalem.
Since Masjid-e-Qiblatain pre-dates this commandment, the prayer niche faced Jerusalem.
The largest masjid in the world, the Masjid-e-Haram, is build around the Kaaba, hence the congregation is circular.
Another peculiarity of the original structure is that while the architecture is Qutb Shahi, its three domes are flatter. This does not connect with that particular style of construction.
Regular visitors to the mosque say that it is because the original domes were crumbling and had to be dismantled.
Dr Haseeb Jafferi, who organises heritage walks under the banner of ‘Sufi Trails’, says: “I do not believe there is another mosque in India that has been retained as is, while a huge new structure has been built around and over it.”
