Shitta Bey Mosque

Shitta Bey Mosque opened in 1894. It is an important sight as it provides the basis for one of the largest growths of a religion the region, Islam. The heritage site is also the result of the ending of the slave trade across the worlds in which former slaves returned to Lagos.

Shitta Bey Mosque was paid for by Mohammed Shitta Bey, as a practicing and devout Muslim, wanted to increase the growth of Islam in Lagos and Sierra Leone. It was at the beginning of the building of this Mosque that Mohammed Shitta was awarded the title of Bey, which was added to end of his name after this ceremony until his death in 1895, which was a year after the mosque was opened. The Shitta Bey Mosque was not the first mosque which he financed. Earlier in his life, in 1873, he donated to the building of the Lagos Central Mosque. Shitta Bey Mosque is still an open mosque in which people can worship and practice Islam in Lagos. The Mosque is an important heritage site in Lagos for the foundation and growth of Islam in the area. This mosque and others which were built were the foundations of the growth of Islam in this area, and without the contributions of men like Mohammed Shitta Bey, Islam might not have grown as much as it had in the region.

This site is currently under further preservation from vandalism, modernization of the state, and other dangers that threaten this heritage site. This site was designated as a national monument in 2013, by the Lagos government. This site features a Brazilian style architecture and was built by many former slaves who came back to West Africa from Brazil in the early 19th century. This site is important to the history of Lagos as it is a historical place which provided a basis of one of the largest growths of a religion in the region, in Islam. Besides contributing so much to the growth of Islam, this site was also built by former slaves returning to Lagos and is a contribution to the legacy of those people who made Lagos become what it is today. This site showcases the unique cultural integration of the architectural aspects of building during this era, which was a direct result from the slave trade during the centuries before. This site was the result of the ending of the slave trade across the world, and the cultures which former slaves returning to Lagos were all implemented into this heritage site. This is a reminder of the past history and heritage of Lagos.

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“Shitta Bey Mosque,” Nigerian Cultural Heritage, accessed April 19, 2024, https://nigeria.archivingafrica.com/items/show/307.

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Related Sources

  • Awofeso, Peli (23 January 2019) The Daily Report: Lagos steps up campaign to protect heritage sites and monuments. Cole, Gibril R. (15 September 2013). The Krio of West Africa: Islam, Culture, Creolization, and Colonialism in the Nineteenth Century. Ohio University Press. p. 143. ISBN 9780821444788. Geaves, Ron. Islam in Victorian Britain: The Life and Times of Abdullah Quilliam. Kube Publishing Ltd, 2010. p. 75. ISBN 9781847740380. Retrieved 19 December 2016.