Mosquee Omar Ben El Katab Mosque Mr Bn Alkhtab

Khemis Miliana, a market town in the Ain Defla province of northwestern Algeria, lies on the old route between Algiers and Oran, where the rich agricultural plain of the Cheliff river meets the foothills of the Ouarsenis mountains. Its congregational mosque honours Umar ibn al Khattab, may God be pleased with him, the second caliph of the Muslim community whose administrative innovations, ascetic personal life and unwavering justice set the tone for Islamic governance in the first decades after the passing of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him and his family. Algeria's Islamic heritage flows through the early conquest under Uqba ibn Nafi, may God be pleased with him, the Rustemid imamate at Tiaret, the Almoravid and Almohad periods, the Zayyanid kingdom of Tlemcen and the Ottoman regency of Algiers, each leaving mosques, madrasas and zawiyas in towns across the north. The city has been known historically as Miliana since Roman times when it was called Manliana, while the prefix Khemis, meaning Thursday, reflects the weekly market that has gathered farmers for centuries. Architecturally the mosque follows the Algerian vernacular, with a square minaret in the Maghribi style finished in white and green tile, whitewashed walls relieved by Andalusi arches and a carved cedar entrance door. A shaded courtyard paved in local stone leads into the prayer hall, whose mihrab is lined with hand cut ceramic and whose mimbar rises in carved steps. Daily prayers follow the calendar issued by the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Jumu'ah khutbah is delivered in classical Arabic with brief reflections in Algerian darija and Ramadan evenings bring tarawih, iftar tables shared generously across the forecourt and qiyam nights in the final ten. Eid mornings draw families in freshly pressed finery, and sweet maqrout pastries are shared afterwards. Visitors should dress modestly, leave shoes on the tiled ledge and speak quietly during recitation. Nearby landmarks include the Roman ruins of Manliana, the sanctuary of Sidi Slimane, the Ouarsenis mountain cedar forests and the Cheliff valley irrigation canals. An older resident, when questioned, produced from his wallet a small photograph of the mosque taken in nineteen sixty three, its minaret newly whitewashed and its forecourt hosting the Eid prayers of his boyhood, a personal relic that reminds visitors how deeply such provincial buildings are woven into the fabric of individual Algerian lives.