Tal Afar inaugurates first mosque named for local woman

TAL AFAR, October 4 — Tal Afar district in in Nineveh governorate inaugurated the Hajja Nazira Mohammad Yousef Al-Mihrab mosque on Tuesday, becoming the first place of worship to bear a woman’s name in the traditionally conservative town.

Tal Afar district was host to 95 mosques, 45 Husseiniyas (Shia community centers), and numerous religious shrines prior to the ISIS invasion. The group subsequently destroyed 32 religious sites during their takeover of the region.

The Hajja Nazira Mosque is not only the first mosque in Tal Afar to bear a woman’s name, but it is also the first mosque to include green spaces, a car park, and a mortuary.

The mosque’s namesake, Nazira, was a Tal Afar native who died in 2023. Her husband, Lieutenant General Ali Al-Hajj Hussein, decided to build the mosque as a tribute to her.

“We began laying the foundation for this mosque in the last quarter of 2022 and it opened today in the presence of several officials, dignitaries, and community leaders,” Hussein said.

The mosque is listed as the largest in western Nineveh, covering an area of 6,250 square meters, and featuring a prayer hall, a dedicated space for religious education, a mortuary, car park, gardens, green areas, and sanitary facilities.

The mosque is located in the northern Kifah neighborhood near the historic Mullah Jasim area, facing the Azaher School.