Iraq has officially reopened the historic Great Mosque of al-Nuri in Mosul, eight years after it was destroyed during the battle to liberate the city from ISIS. The reopening ceremony took place on Monday, with Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani presiding over the event and declaring the mosque open for worship. An official inauguration ceremony is planned for later this year to mark the full restoration of the site.
The Great Mosque of al-Nuri, originally constructed between 1172 and 1173 AD, was renowned for its leaning minaret, a defining symbol of Mosul’s skyline for centuries. The mosque fell into the hands of ISIS in June 2014, when the militant group captured nearly 40 percent of Iraq, including Mosul, during its sweeping advance across Western Iraq.
On July 4, 2014, ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi delivered a sermon at the mosque in which he declared the establishment of his so-called caliphate, marking Mosul as the de facto capital of ISIS-controlled territory spanning large parts of Iraq and Syria.
The mosque’s destruction occurred on June 21, 2017, as Iraqi forces closed in on Mosul’s Old City after seven months of fierce fighting. ISIS militants detonated explosives inside the mosque and its iconic minaret to prevent its liberation intact. Then-Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi condemned the act, calling it ISIS’s “declaration of defeat.”
ISIS information wing, Amaq, would claim at the time would claim that the mosque was destroyed due to an American airstrike, however, Iraqi soldiers were within 50 meters of the mosque and witnessed what they described as a controlled explosion with the Iraqi military releasing footage that showed the mosque crumbling from an explosion at the bottom of the structure.
Reconstruction began the following year, with an international competition launched to design the restoration. In April 2021, eight Egyptian architects were selected from 123 submissions to lead the project. The reconstruction was completed on November 13, 2024, with the Iraqi flag raised atop the newly rebuilt minaret.