The mosque was built next to a well where the sheikhs (chiefs) of the Berber tribes allied to Idris held their meetings (hence the name "Mosque of the Sheikhs").[1][2] It had no minaret and did not have a particularly monumental appearance.[1]:40 The name "Al-Anouar" or "Al-Anwar" was an epithet sometimes given to Idris I, which is why the mosque also took on this name.[3]