The Great Mosque of Djenné, the largest mud-built structure in the world, is a notable example of earth architecture and community spirit.
Every year during the dry season, there is an annual festival called Le Crépissage de la Grande Mosquée (The Plastering of the Great Mosque) when the people of Djenné “clothe the mosque” with a new coat of mud plaster made from shea butter and mud from the nearby Niger and Bani Rivers. Everyone gets involved in this festive occasion: accompanied by drumming and singing, the boys mix the mud, the girls provide the water, and the elders sit nearby giving advice, while generations of mud masons plaster the community’s house of worship. They work together to repair and maintain the mosque, but this community effort also allows people to socialize and strengthen bonds. After the work is done they make dua: May Allah allow us to be here again next year.
The Grand Mosque as well as other local buildings, including homes, are built using traditional design techniques and inexpensive locally-sourced materials that keep interiors cool in the hot & dry arid climate. Called “The City of Mud”, local structures are built of sun-dried mud bricks made from river mud mixed with rice husks and straw which are then fermented for a month so they become tough, thick, and rain-resistant. The Grand Mosque of Djenné, as well as the entire town of Djenné, was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1988.
Unfortunately, this unique cultural heritage is threatened by climate change. Increasingly common massive floods speed up the deterioration of the mud buildings throughout the city, including the Grand Mosque. At the same time, the height of the rivers is steadily decreasing which lessens the quality of the mud, which in turn, weakens bricks and the buildings made with them.
Inshallah when our mosques reopen, call to mind the community spirit of the people of Djenné repairing their mosque, and work to revamp the unsustainable systems in our mosques that contribute to climate change locally and around the world.
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