Arba-Rukun Mosque

Another historical destination that tourists must visit when coming to Somalia is Arba- Rukun Mosque. The Arba Rukun Mosque, commonly known as Arba Rucun, is a mosque in Mogadishu, Somalia's ancient neighborhood of Shangani. The explanation for the name is that the Mosque is built in a square shape with four corners, each with a pillar, and Arba-Rucun means "pillars." The masjid in Mogadishu's capital is one of the city's oldest Islamic sites of worship. It was constructed at about the same time as the Fakr ad-Din Mosque, around the year 667 (1260/1 CE). An inscription from the same year can be discovered on the mihrab of Arba'a Rukun, commemorating the masjid's late founder, Khusra ibn Mubarak al-Shirazi.

This 1269 mosque has been more fortunate than the adjoining church, and is one of the few ancient buildings in Somalia, thanks to the city's Islamic tradition, which is one of the few things the city's many warlords can agree on (in the historic center which is not a ruin). It is reported to have been erected by a direct descendant of a direct descendant of a direct descendant of a descendant of the Prophet Mohammed.

Location: Shangani, Mogadishu, Somalia