مسجد الحاج محمد Fahrettin Ballıoğlu

Located in the Turkish border city of Kilis near the Syrian frontier, Haci Mehmet Fahrettin Ballioglu Camii carries the name of a respected local benefactor whose family legacy is tied to the pilgrimage to Makkah, signalled by the title Haci, Hajji, placed reverently before his first name. Kilis itself is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities of the Turkish south east, mentioned in Assyrian records more than three thousand years ago, and it has absorbed waves of settlement from the Arab, Turkmen, and Kurdish peoples across its long history. The city became internationally known during the Syrian war that began in 2011 because of its large role in welcoming Syrian refugees, whose numbers at one point exceeded the original Kilis population.
The tradition of naming a mosque after a Hajji whose family endowed the building belongs to a wider Ottoman and Turkish practice in which the act of returning from pilgrimage carries lifelong spiritual weight. The Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, taught that an accepted hajj has no reward less than Paradise, and Turkish communities have traditionally honoured those who completed the journey through the lifelong title Haci. Dedicating a mosque in such a person's name carries that blessed association forward into every adhan, every Friday sermon, and every Qur'anic recitation delivered within its walls.
Architecturally the masjid follows the classical Ottoman inspired Turkish provincial style. A cut stone facade frames tall arched windows, a single pencil minaret rises above the rooftop, and a central dome with smaller half domes crowns the prayer hall. Inside, patterned carpets cover the floor, a carved wooden minbar stands beside the mihrab, and restrained tilework decorates the qibla wall. A separate women's section sits behind a wooden lattice, and a small library holds copies of the Qur'an and basic Turkish Islamic literature. Friday sermons are delivered in Turkish, with occasional Arabic and Kurdish phrases reflecting the mixed population of the city. During Ramadan, the mosque offers collective iftars of lahmacun, corba, and baklava. Daily prayer times for Fajr, Dhuhr, Asr, Maghrib, and Isha at this Kilis masjid appear on this page for every resident and visitor.