Abdellah Ben Salem Mosque

Abdellah Ben Salem Mosque
مسجد عبدالله بن سلام
Religion
Affiliation	Islam
Ecclesiastical or organisational status	Synagogue (1880–1962) Mosque (since 1975)
Year consecrated	1918 (as a synagogue) 1975 (as a mosque)
Status	Active
Location
Location	Boulevard Maata Mohamed El Habib, Oran
Country	Algeria
Location of the mosque in Oran
Geographic coordinates	35°42′00″N 0°39′01″W
Architecture
Type	Synagogue architecture
Style	Moorish Revival
Completed	1880 (as a synagogue); 1975 (as a mosque)

The Abdellah Ben Salem Mosque (Arabic: مسجد عبد الله بن سلام) is a mosque in Oran, Algeria. Formerly the Great Synagogue of Oran (French: Grande synagogue d'Oran), it was the largest synagogue in Africa. Also known as Temple Israélite, it was located on Boulevard Joffre, currently Boulevard Maata Mohamed El Habib.

History

Construction of the Orthodox Jewish synagogue began in 1879 at the initiative of Simon Kanoui, and took 38 years to complete. The synagogue was completed in the Neo-Mudéjar and Moorish Revival styles. When Algeria gained its independence in 1962, almost all Algerian Jews, who were considered French citizens since the Crémieux Decree of 1870, were expelled to France alongside the Pied-Noir settlers.

In 1975, the synagogue was converted into a mosque and named after Abdullah ibn Salam, a seventh-century Jew from Medina and companion of Muhammad who converted to Islam.

See also

• History of the Jews in Algeria
• Djamaa Ben farès
• Conversion of non-Islamic places of worship into mosques
• List of mosques in Algeria

External links

Media related to Abdallah Ibn Salam Mosque at Wikimedia Commons

• The Jewish Community of Oran | The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot Archived 2018-06-12 at the Wayback Machine