Islamic cemetery of Bobigny, Islamic cemetery in Bobigny, France

The Islamic cemetery of Bobigny holds about 7,000 graves, all aligned southwest so that the body, lying on its right side, faces Mecca. Entry is through a porch; on the same axis stands the square prayer hall topped by a golden dome, with the caretaker's residence beside it, and a gate on the right opens onto the burial ground. Architect Édouard Crevel designed the white-walled, flat-roofed buildings with green tiles and wooden doors, inspired by the 1931 Colonial Exposition.

The cemetery was created by a presidential decree of 4 January 1934 and inaugurated on 12 February 1937 as an annex of the Franco-Muslim Hospital, which opened in 1935 and is now Avicenne Hospital. A decree of 12 June 1937 extended burial rights to Muslims proposed by the rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris. In 1996 its management passed to the intercommunal syndicate of Aubervilliers, La Courneuve, Drancy and Bobigny.

The cemetery was designed by architect Édouard Crevel in a style drawn from the Arab architecture shown at the 1931 Colonial Exhibition: white walls, flat roofs, green tiles, wooden doors and metal studs, planted with thuja, holm oak, hackberry, mulberry and cypress. Graves face south-west so the body, lying on its right side, looks toward Mecca. Notable burials include Boughera El Ouafi, the 1928 Olympic marathon champion, and Ottoman prince Osman Fuad.

Enter through the porch on the axis of the prayer hall with its golden dome; the guardian's residence stands beside it, and a gate on the right leads into the burial ground itself. A second exit at the far end opens onto a visitor car park. Graves are aligned southwest so the body, lying on its right side, faces Mecca.

The cemetery holds the graves of Ottoman prince Osman Fuad, his wife Şehsuvar Hanım, and Peyveste Hanım, wife of Sultan Abdülhamid II, alongside Algerian anarchist Mohamed Saïl and Syrian statesman Abdul Halim Khaddam. A military square also commemorates soldiers of the 2nd Armoured Division.