Jami' Arwa and Maqam of Maulatona Arwa al-Sulayhi (RA) — Jibla
جَامِعُ أَروَى وَمَقَامُ مَولَاتِنَا أَروَى الصُّلَيحِيَّة — جِبلَة
The mosque and tomb of Maulatona Arwa bint Ahmad al-Sulayhi (RA) — al-Malika al-Hurra, the Free Queen — who ruled Yemen for nearly 70 years and appointed the first Dai al-Mutlaq in 524 AH. Jibla was the fortified highland city she chose as her capital, building it into a center of Ismaili governance and scholarship. The Jami' Arwa (Mosque of Arwa) is one of the finest examples of medieval Yemeni Islamic architecture, with its distinctive carved plasterwork, tall prayer hall, and internal courtyards. Maulatona Arwa is buried within the mosque complex itself — her darih (tomb enclosure) inside the mosque she built, in the tradition of great Fatimid rulers. The mosque and her maqam remain standing in Jibla to this day, having survived the centuries through various political changes in Yemen.
Why it Matters
For Dawoodi Bohras, Jibla is one of the most historically significant sites in Yemen — the city from which the al-Malika al-Hurra appointed the first Dai al-Mutlaq, establishing the institution that has led the community for nearly 900 years. Visiting her maqam is an act of honoring the woman who preserved the Dawat at its most critical moment. The Yemen Ziyarat route historically included Jibla alongside the Haraz mountains, where earlier Ismaili missionaries established communities that became the nucleus of the Dawoodi Bohra presence in Yemen.
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