Here’s a mosque that dates back for hundreds of years. It’s said that the mosque was built in 1421 by Ayuba. Ayuba was a trader who was spending the night in Larabanga because he was travelling across the Sahara.

The story goes that he was given instructions to build the mosque in a dream.

Built in traditional style, it was created using mud, reeds and whatever came to hand in the local area.

The story continues that Ayuba never left Larabanga once he had completed the mosque. It’s said that he lived there for the rest of his life. After his death, he was buried beneath a baobob tree nearby and the local people believed that the leaves of the tree had special powers, enriched as they were by the remains of this mosque building man.

The tree still stands.

Inside the mosque is a copy of the Koran – and non-Muslins aren’t able to enter the mosque, by the way – that according to legend was a gift from heaven that has been inside the mosque since 1650.

The World Monuments Trust lists the mosque as one of the world’s most endangered sites. In recent years it has been carefully restored using the materials that were used at the time of Ayuba’s original work.

SEE MORE AT THE WORLD MONUMENTS TRUST WEBSITE

Where is Larabanga?

Larabanga

Larabanga,
Ghana

ARTICLE BY:

Jackie

Jackie

JJ is originally from the UK and has lived in South Florida since 1994. She is the founder and editor of JAQUO Magazine. You can connect with her using the social media icons below.

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