Dar al-Muwaqqit


A Dar al-Muwaqqit is a room or structure accompanying a mosque which was used by the muwaqqit or timekeeper, an officer charged with maintaining the correct times of prayer and communicating them to the muezzin. Such structures were particularly distinctive in Morocco where they were added to many historic mosques.

Notable examples of ''Dar al-Muwaqqit''s

Dar al-Muwaqqit of the Qarawiyyin Mosque

The Dar al-Muwaqqit of Fes's most important mosque was added by the Marinids in 1286 when renovations were carried out on the mosque's old minaret. The chamber was equipped with astrolabes and all manner of scientific equipment of the era in order to aid in this task. It also housed a number of historical water clocks mentioned in historical sources, of which one survives today. The first was commissioned by the Marinid Sultan Abu Yusuf Ya'qub in the 13th century and designed by Muhammad ibn al-Habbak, a faqih and muwaqqit. Another one was constructed on the orders of Sultan Abu Sa'id in 1317 and was restored in 1346. However, the only one to survive today is the water clock of Al-Laja'i. It was made on the order of the Sultan Abu Salim Ali II by the muwaqqit Abu Zayd Abd al-Rahman ibn Sulayman al-Laja'i. Al-Laja'i had studied mathematics with Ibn al-Banna al-Marrakushi at the Al-Attarine Madrasa. The clock was finished and put in place on 20 November 1361, two months after the death of the sultan.

The Borj Neffara or Dar al-Muwaqqit of Fes

Another structure known as the "Dar al-Muwaqqit" was built across the street from the Qarawiyyin Mosque by sultan Abu Inan in the mid-14th century. It includes a prominent tower known as the Borj Neffara, which is often mistaken for a minaret. The structure consists of a house with two floors arranged around a central courtyard, with the tower rising on the house's southern side. The tower is reported to have served several functions, including as fire lookout tower, but the principal function appears to have been as a platform for astronomical observation carried out by the muwaqqit.

Dar al-Magana at the Bou Inania Madrasa

The Dar al-Magana is a house on Tala'a Kebira street in Fes which stands opposite the Bou Inania Madrasa and Mosque. The structure is believed to have also been built by Abu Inan alongside his madrasa complex, with one chronicler reporting that it was completed on May 6, 1357. Its street facade features a famous but poorly-understood hydraulic clock, which was overseen by the mosque's muwaqqit. The Bou Inania's clock may have followed similar principles as the earlier water clock built for the Dar al-Muwaqqit of the Qarawiyyin Mosque by Sultan Abu Said in 1317.

Other ''Dar al-Muwaqqit''s in Morocco

Many mosques in Morocco had a dedicated Dar al-Muwaqqit, especially from the Marinid period onward. Like the one found in the Qarawiyyin Mosque, they were almost always adjoined to the mosque's minaret, often on a second floor above the gallery overlooking the mosque's sahn, and marked by an ornate double-arched window. The Dar al-Muwaqqit of the Grand Mosque of Fes el-Jdid, built around 1276, may have been the earliest example of this type of chamber in Marinid architecture, and served as a model for the one built soon after at the Qarawiyyin Mosque. Other later examples include the Dar al-Muwaqqit of the Alaouite-era Lalla Aouda Mosque in Meknes and the Dar al-Muwaqqit of the Zawiya of Moulay Idris II in Fes. The Dar al-Muwaqqit of the Zawiya of Moulay Idris II is also notable for featuring marble spolia from the Saadian palaces of Marrakesh, looted by Sultan Moulay Isma'il.