2. Mosque ( Habib-i Neccar Mosque, Antakya – Kemerler Selimiye Mosque Bands, Edirne)

a) Habib-i  Neccar Mosque, Antakya

The original Habib-I Neccar Mosque is located in the city of Antioch (Antakya), named after a martyred Christian.  This incident is described in Qur’an. In this anecdote the place and the time of the incident is not stated.  According to some of the interpretations of Qur’an, Jesus sent two of his envoys to Antioch, the biggest city of that time, and the first person to believe the envoys was a person with the nickname Habib-i Neccar, or the beloved of the carpenter. But his countryman didn’t like the envoys and imprisoned them.   Then God supported them with a third messenger. Despite all the efforts of the envoys, no one believed in the new religion and people planned to kill the envoys.  Hearing these, Habbib-i  Neccar came to the city and said “"Obey those who ask no reward of you (for themselves)”.  Habib-i Neccar, together with the envoys, were martyred by torture.

Some of the sources interpret his name as ‘the beloved one for Jesus’. Neccar means who gives shape to a tree; and carpenter is a name for Jesus. Habib-i Neccar means beloved one for Jesus.

This is also the place where the envoys of Jesus and companions of Prophet Mohammed met.  When Muslims came to the region, they built a mosque by the grave of Habib-i Neccar. It has the symbolic meaning that it is the first mosque dedicated to the first Christian in Asia Minor. This mosque is also known to be the first mosque built in Anatolia.  On the north east side of the mosque, four meters under the ground, there is a tomb which is believed to belong to Habib-i Naccar.

 Habib-i Neccar Mosque
 

b) Selimiye Mosque

Selimiye Mosque was built in 1568-1574 in Edirne by Architect Sinan (Mimar Sinan). This mosque is a symbol of the great improvement of the Islamic architecture and Mimar Sinan stated that it was his masterpiece. One of the qualities that makes the mosque unique is the unity between the four tall minarets around it, domes standing on circular eight bands and four half domes surrounding them.  Windows on three sides of the mosque provide great illumination in the mosque, which is an innovation in architecture.  There is a courtyard in the middle of the mosque which has the same surface area as the mosque. The architectural designs used at the Interfaith Peace garden has been taken from the Mosque’s the inside courtyard entrance which is ornamented with porches and domes.