Mosque Alsydt Zynb Bsknyt Alhdyd Walslb

Within the coastal Libyan city of Misratah, Masjid al Sayyidah Zaynab is located in the residential quarter attached to the old Hadid wa al Sulb iron and steel works, serving the factory neighbourhood and surrounding streets. Misratah itself is the third largest city in Libya, a historic commercial port whose merchant families once traded across the Mediterranean with Tunis, Malta, Venice, and Alexandria. The establishment of the iron and steel plant in the 1970s transformed the local economy and brought workers from every region of Libya into new housing estates, around which mosques such as this one were built to serve the faith of the resident families.
The name al Sayyidah Zaynab, the Lady Zaynab, is most often associated in the Muslim memory with Zaynab bint Ali ibn Abi Talib (may God be pleased with her), the honourable granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, whose courage after the tragedy of Karbala in 680 preserved the memory of her brother al Husayn and inspired generations of Muslims to speak truth to unjust power. Her shrine in Damascus is one of the most visited pilgrimage sites of the Muslim world. In Libyan tradition, naming a mosque after a noble lady of the Prophet's family is both an act of love for his household and a gentle blessing upon the surrounding community.
Architecturally the mosque reflects the functional late twentieth century Libyan mosque style common in worker neighbourhoods. A rectangular prayer hall with plastered whitewashed walls, a modest square minaret carrying loudspeakers, a green domed mihrab bay, and ceiling fans that cool the long Libyan summer form the core of the building. Woven reed mats cover the floor, and patterned carpets mark the positions of prayer rows. A simple wooden minbar stands beside a carved plaster mihrab facing Makkah. The Friday khutbah draws workers, families, and neighbours from the surrounding estate, and Ramadan brings community iftars of bazin, sharba, and flavourful tajines shared on communal tables. Accurate daily prayer times for Fajr, Dhuhr, Asr, Maghrib, and Isha are published on this page for every family of the Hadid wa al Sulb neighbourhood and every visitor to the great port city of Misratah.