Al-Aydarus Mosque and Shrine

Al-‘Aydarus Mosque in Aden is a historic mosque-mausoleum complex with more than five centuries of religious, educational and social importance. Monumenta Orientalia’s heritage documentation, prepared in the context of an ALIPH-supported conservation project, places the mosque in Aden and states that its original construction dates to 899 AH, when Imam Abu Bakr al-‘Aydarus established his first settlement in the city.

The building has since been renewed and enlarged repeatedly, so the complex visible today contains both older fabric and later expansions. Monumenta describes a structure built on rocky ground using local volcanic stone and timber. The complex includes the old mosque, a minaret and the domed mausoleum, as well as corridors, water facilities and later additions.

It also functioned as a religious school, and the heritage source emphasizes its role in the education of scholars over several centuries. The mosque remains especially important for the annual “visit of al-‘Aydarus.” Monumenta records that pilgrims come on the twelfth of Rabi‘ al-Thani each year for this ziyara, making the shrine an established devotional destination rather than simply an architectural monument.

This record corrects an earlier date of the thirteenth of Rabi‘ al-Thani in the draft CSV because the stronger conservation source gives the twelfth. No healing claim is made for the site or its well because no authoritative medical or historical evidence was established.