Al-Azhar Mosque is the most important mosque in Egypt at all, and one of the historical strongholds for spreading and teaching Islam. It is also one of the most famous ancient mosques in Egypt and the Islamic world. The history of its construction dates back to the beginning of the era of the Fatimid state in Egypt, after Jawhar al-Siqilli completed the conquest of Egypt in 969 AD, and proceeded to establish Cairo. The city has a recent establishment, like the Mosque of Amr in Fustat and Ibn Tulun Mosque in Al-Qata`, as well as it was prepared at the time to be an educational institute for the teaching and dissemination of the Shiite sect. Cairo Although the hand of reform and restoration continued over the centuries, it changed many of its Fatimid features, but it is considered the oldest existing Fatimid monument in Egypt. Historians differed as to the origin of the name of this mosque, and it is more likely that the Fatimids named it al-Azhar after Fatima al-Zahra, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad.

The mosque is the second oldest continuously existing university in the world after Al-Qarawiyyin University. Although the Amr Ibn Al-Aas Mosque in Fustat preceded him in the teaching job, where lessons were held voluntarily and by donation, Al-Azhar Mosque is the first in Egypt to play the role of regular schools and institutes, so its lessons were given by commission from the state and paid by scholars and teachers.

The mosque was initially built in the form of a prayer hall with five corridors and a modest central courtyard, and since then the mosque has been expanded several times with additional facilities surrounding the original building, many minarets were added by the Mamluks, and gates were added during the Ottoman rule, and the mihrab was replaced by a new mihrab. The original minarets and domes have survived to this day, and some have been reconstructed several times