| Feature | Description | |---------|-------------| | | A robust, square-based tower resembling a military lookout. At 18 meters high, it served both as a muezzin’s platform and a surveillance post. It predates the slender Almohad-style minarets of later centuries. | | Prayer Hall | Hypostyle layout with 6 aisles of stone columns recycled from Roman/Byzantine structures (Carthage and Utica). The mihrab (prayer niche) is a simple semicircular recess, decorated with marble intarsia. | | Courtyard (Sahn) | A central open courtyard measuring 15m x 12m, paved with flagstones, featuring a shallow rainwater cistern (used for wudu and emergency water supply during sieges). | | Ribat Cells | Small, austere rooms (approx. 2m x 2.5m) lining the upper floor. These were living quarters for the murabitun , each with a small window facing the sea for observation. | | Fortified Walls | Thick stone walls (up to 1.8 meters) with narrow arrow slits instead of large windows. Corner buttresses reinforce defensive capacity. |
: In the late 1990s (1996–2000), the mosque gained national attention because Anwar Al-Awlaki served as its Imam during the time two of the September 11 hijackers reportedly attended services there. masjid al ribat al islami
