جامع ومركز تحفيظ القرآن معاذ ابن جبل

Amid the coastal palm groves of Zliten in the Libyan governorate of Misratah, this mosque and Quran memorisation centre honours Mu'adh ibn Jabal, may God be pleased with him, the young companion of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, who was sent to Yemen to teach the faith and who earned the Prophet's praise as the most knowledgeable of his generation in matters of the halal and haram. Mu'adh died in the plague of Amwas around the year 639, leaving a legacy of teaching, good counsel and deep attachment to the Quran that has inspired countless centres of learning bearing his name.

Zliten itself is famous in Libya for the tomb of Sidi Abd al Salam al Asmar, a sixteenth century scholar whose madrasa trained generations of ulama from across North Africa. The town's religious culture emphasises Quran memorisation in the tradition of the warsh reading common to the Maghreb, and tahfiz centres such as this one help Libyan boys and men commit the full text of the Quran to heart before progressing to higher studies of tafsir, fiqh and hadith.

The mosque complex combines a traditional whitewashed North African prayer hall with a modern extension housing classrooms, a library, a dormitory for visiting students and a small cafeteria. The prayer hall is square in plan, covered by four small domes arranged around a larger central dome, all painted a cool sea green inside. Wooden screens shade the windows against the bright Mediterranean sun, and the interior is floored with reed matting overlaid by red carpets. The mihrab is modest, finished in pale local limestone carved with geometric motifs familiar from the mosques of Kairouan and Fez.

Students of the tahfiz programme begin recitation after fajr and continue through the morning under the patient eye of the muhaffiz, pausing for midmorning bread and dates before resuming. Afternoon sessions focus on tajwid rules and the mutun works of classical fiqh still studied across Libya. Friday prayers draw the wider community of Zliten, and Ramadan brings a rich programme of daily iftar, tarawih and nightly Quran recitation, during which the entire Quran is often completed several times by the most advanced students. Visitors from across the Maghreb who travel the coastal road between Tripoli and Benghazi are welcomed graciously and invited to sit with the students, drink the strong North African mint tea and listen to young voices carrying the ancient text into another generation.