Editing Al-Hakim Mosque (section)

=== General layout ===
[[File:Al-Hakim Mosque plan.svg|thumb|Plan view of the mosque]]
The facades and minarets of the mosque are made from stone, while the rest of the structure is made of brick.<ref name=":0" /> The mosque's rectangular layout consists of an open courtyard surrounded by [[Arcade (architecture)|arcades]] (''[[Riwaq (arcade)|riwaq]]''s) on four sides. Behind these arcades are roofed areas divided into aisles by more arcades that run parallel to the sides of the courtyard. The space on the northwest side of the courtyard (the entrance side) is two aisles deep, the spaces along its southwest and northeast sides are three aisles deep, and the main prayer hall on the southeast side is five aisles deep.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=O'Kane |first=Bernard |title=The Mosques of Egypt |publisher=American University of Cairo Press |year=2016 |isbn=9789774167324 |pages=17–19}}</ref> This layout is similar to the layout of the older [[Mosque of Ibn Tulun|Ibn Tulun Mosque]] and the al-Azhar Mosque.<ref name=":3" /> A special aisle, running perpendicular to the others, cuts across the five aisles of the prayer hall and leads towards the ''[[mihrab]]'' (niche indicating the ''[[qibla]]'' or direction of prayer). This central aisle is further emphasized by its greater width and height, as well as by the presence of a dome, carried on [[Squinch|squinches]], that covers the space directly in front of the mihrab.<ref name=":0" /> In addition to the main mihrab (which dates entirely from the 1980 restoration), another smaller mihrab to the right, covered in polychrome marble, was added by 'Umar Makram in 1808.<ref name=":03" /> 

An unusual feature of the mosque is the monumental main entrance (on the western side) with its projecting stone portal, similar to the older Fatimid-built [[Great Mosque of Mahdiya|Great Mosque of Mahdia]] in present-day [[Tunisia]] and most likely similar to the original entrance (no longer extant) of al-Azhar Mosque.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6" /> The decoration and high-quality stonework of the portal, however, was quite different from that of other Fatimid mosques of this period. Scholar [[Doris Behrens-Abouseif]] suggests that this may be due to the employ of foreign craftsmen, perhaps from Syria.<ref name=":45">{{Cite book |last=Behrens-Abouseif |first=Doris |title=The World of the Fatimids |publisher=Aga Khan Museum; The Institute of Ismaili Studies; Hirmer |year=2018 |isbn=9781926473123 |editor-last=Melikian-Chirvani |editor-first=Assadullah Souren |location=Toronto; Munich |pages=51–54 |language=en |chapter=The Fatimid Dream of a New Capital: Dynastic Patronage and Its Imprint on the Architectural Setting}}</ref> The mosque's original Fatimid portal has not been preserved; the current portal was reconstructed during the mosque's modern restoration according to earlier descriptions provided by [[K. A. C. Creswell]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pruitt |first=Jennifer A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wE6_DwAAQBAJ&dq=al-hakim+mosque+inscription&pg=PA73 |title=Building the Caliphate: Construction, Destruction, and Sectarian Identity in Early Fatimid Architecture |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2020 |isbn=978-0-300-24682-7 |pages=73 |language=en |access-date=2023-01-29 |archive-date=2023-10-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231021161025/https://books.google.com/books?id=wE6_DwAAQBAJ&dq=al-hakim+mosque+inscription&pg=PA73 |url-status=live }}</ref><gallery>
File:Al-Hakim Mosque main entrance 2019 Cairo Egypt.jpg|alt=|Main entrance of the mosque
File:Al-Hakem b Amr-Allah mosque - Moez street.jpg|alt=|Courtyard of the mosque, looking towards the southeast to the central aisle of the prayer hall
File:Cairo, moschea di al-hakim, interno 07.JPG|alt=|Interior of the mosque's prayer hall (mostly reconstructed in the 1980 restoration)
File:Moez Mosque (3).JPG|alt=|The central aisle leading to the mihrab
File:محراب مسجد الحاكم بأمر الله 1515852.jpg|alt=|Main mihrab of the mosque (dating from the 1980 restoration)
File:ليست قطعه بورسلين ولكنها القبه اعلى منبر مسجد الحاكم بأمر الله.JPG|alt=|Dome in front of the mihrab
File:Cairo Al Hakim 4.jpg|alt=|Smaller mihrab dating to 1808, near the main mihrab
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