10/03/2025
The Jamia Masjid (Kashmiri: بٔڑ مٔشیٖد) is a Friday mosque located at Nowhatta in the Old City of Srinagar, in the Indian administered union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The mosque was commissioned by Sultan Sikandar in 1394 CE and completed in 1402 CE, at the behest of Mir Mohammad Hamadani, son of Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani, and is regarded as one of the most important mosques in Kashmir. The mosque is located in a central zone in the religio-political life in Srinagar. Thronged by Muslims every Friday, it is a prime tourist attraction of the city.
For 21 years,] the mosque faced closure under the Sikh empire of Maharaja Ranjit Singh beginning in 1819 CE, when the-then Governor of Srinagar, Moti Ram, put curbs on offering prayers in Jamia Masjid.No prayers were offered and no call for prayers was given from the mosque. It was reopened by the Governor Ghulam Muhi-ud-Din in 1843 CE, who spent nearly a lakh and a half of rupees on its repair. For 11 years, rulers allowed prayers only on Fridays. The mosque was opened for just few hours on Fridays and closed again.
During the 1931 Kashmir agitation, a funeral was held for 22 muslim rioters that were taken to Jamia Masjid after the Dogra police opened fire at them. The bodies of the victims were laid in the shrine compound of Khawaja Naqashband Sahab Khawaja Bazar Srinagar where Sheikh Abdullah, Mirwaiz Maulvi Muhammad Yusuf Shah and other leaders started delivering speeches against Dogra Maharaja Hari Singh.
According to historian Mohammad Ishaq Khan, “Jamia Masjid has primarily played a significant part in imparting religious education. However, with the spread of modern education among Kashmiri Muslims, thanks to the efforts of Mirwaiz Ghulam Rasul Shah, the Masjid began to play a seminal role in the growth of political consciousness. Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah was, in fact, initiated into what I would call the mysteries of Kashmiri Muslim politics at Jamia Masjid by Mirwaiz Muhammad Yusuf Shah.”
The Jamia Masjid has been a hot-bed of raging political discourse[citation needed] on the present turmoil in the state, and the politics that has unfolded in Kashmir has led to curbs and gags on congregations here. The mosque has also become a platform for people to debate and discuss the politics of the Kashmir conflict.
Prolonged closure of the mosque came into effect in 2008 when the Amarnath land row erupted. The decision of the state government to prevent people from offering Friday prayers for weeks led to massive outrage,and was seen as an attempt to choke the rebellion whose epicentre was the areas of the old city, particularly around Jamia Masjid.
During the Mehbooba Mufti-led coalition government, the mosque was again locked down for three months during the unrest of 2016, and again in 2017 and 2018 for different periods of time.
On 28 December 2018, a group of masked young men stormed into the mosque with ISIS flags after Friday congregational prayers, when the mosque was nearly empty, and a video of the incident went viral on social media. The incident became highly publicised and provoked condemnation from a wide range of organisations and public figures, including the mosque's Mirwaiz and the chief minister of the state. A day to "purify" the mosque, and another to reiterate its importance and sanctity, were observed the following week.
After the revocation of the erstwhile state's special status, and its bifurcation into two union territories, on 5 August 2019, including the rise of COVID-19 pandemic in Kashmir, the government imposed restrictions on prayers for 136 days.
