Hadhrat al-Qadiriyya

Background Born in Gilan, Abdul-Qadir al-Gilani first arrived in Baghdad at the age of 18 to study in various educational institutions. He was then hired as a teacher in one of the schools near modern-day Bab al-Sheikh () in Baghdad. A madrasa was built over the sight of the modern complex for al-Gilani to lead by a Hanbali Jurist named Abu Sa'id al-Mukhrami. This madrasa became al-Gilani's residence around 1119 CE, and would expand on the complex over time with donations from wealthy merchants in the city. Construction on expanding the madrasa coincided with al-Gilani's passing in 1166 CE; After his death, a mosque was added to the complex, and the general complex was named in his honor. This name comes from the fact that the complex is located in Bab al-Sheikh, and is where the al-Gilani family has historically lived. As well being the location of Bab al-Talsim, one of the gates of Baghdad. During the reign of the Safavid Shah Isma'il I, Gilani's shrine was destroyed. In 1535, the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent had a dome built over the shrine, which still stands to this day. Traditionally, the Qadiriyya complex held iftar and tarawih sessions during Ramadan with the mosque's kitchen cooking food for the people of the area. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the mosque was forced to close down until it was reopened for Ramadan in 2021 to let in visitors to break fast and perform tarawih. In 2022, the former Bangladeshi ambassador to Iraq, Mohammad Fazlul Bari, visited the Qadiriyya complex and shrine. He brought a embroidered textile cover to be placed on the tomb as a gift from the government of Bangladesh. The cover was put in the presence of the complex's chief administrator, Sayyid Khalid al-Gilani, who's also the Sufi mystic's ancestor. == Architecture ==

Built as a madrasa, a shrine was constructed following the death of Abdul Qadir al-Gilani. In 1535, Suleiman the Magnificent built a complex around the shrine, consisting of a tomb, mosque, madrasa and soup kitchens. The complex was renovated in subsequent years. Minarets The mosque has two main minarets located near the entrances on the western side. A Seljuk-style minaret, dated from 1498, rises at the southern corner of the narrow, rectangular platform. It is architecturally similar to a number of minarets in Baghdad, like the one of the Murjan Mosque. It has an octagonal base, a cylindrical shaft with two balconies, and a small dome. Its balcony is held by muqarnas decorated with Kufic inscriptions on its ceramic tiles. Among the library's collections are several copies of the Qu'ran, including a gold-gilded Qu'ran donated to the library by a Syrian Sufi, in addition to many valuable early scientific texts and manuscripts including astronomy, calligraphy, and language studies. The oldest book in the collection is a 13th century Arabic language studies manuscript that survived the 1258 Mongol siege. Due to the library's vast rich collection, students are known to visit the library often to research the books and study early Islamic civilization. ==See also==