The article calls it the first mosque in Egypt, built around 642 on the site of the commander Amr ibn al-As's tent at Fustat. The narrative places his campaign in 641. The original was a rectangle 95 by 56 feet (29 by 17 m), with columns of split palm trunks, mud bricks and a roof of wood and palm leaves, and no minarets.
Governor Maslama rebuilt it in 673, adding four minarets and doubling its area, and Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan doubled it again in 698. In 827 it was enlarged to its present size. By the 9th century it measured 394 by 367 feet (120 by 112 m). Fire destroyed it in 1169, and Saladin rebuilt it in 1179.
Mourad Bey demolished and rebuilt it in 1796, reducing the rows of columns from seven to six, and the current minarets are attributed to him, dated 1796 or 1800. It is open to visitors outside prayer times.
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