It is built around the tomb of Abu Hanifah an-Nu'man, the founder of the Hanafi Madhhab or school of Islamic religious jurisprudence.

It is in the al-Adhamiyah district of northern Baghdad, which is named after Abu Hanifa's reverential epithet Al-imām al-aʿẓam ("The Great Leader").

[6] During the Buwayhid rule of the Abbasid Caliphate, in 375 AH / 985–986 CE, a medium-sized mosque was built near Abu Hanifa's tomb, by the orders of Samsam al-Dawla.

During his time in Baghdad, he built a great high dome on Abu Hanifa's tomb, and spent a lot of money on it.

[11]While Khadija Arslan-Khatun, the sister of Sultan Alp Arslan, was visiting Baghdad in Jamadi al-Oula 459 AH, Abu Saad al-Mustawfi went there to welcome her.

[15] In 1080 AH / 1669 CE, the brother of the vizier, Mohammed Bek Daftary, reconstructed old parts of the mosque and built a hallway in it.

[17] In 1757, during the rule of the Mamluk dynasty in Iraq, the Vali of Baghdad, Suleiman Abu Layla, renewed the shrine and built a dome and a minaret.

[18] In 1255 AH / 1839 CE, Sultan Abdülmecid I ordered to reconstruct the old damaged parts of the mosque[18] and decorate it with a tunic from Al-Masjid an-Nabawi, which was welcomed with superior greetings by the residents of Baghdad because of its holiness.

[19] In 1288 AH / 1871 CE, the mother of Abdülaziz, Pertevniyal Sultan, vowed when she was sick, that if she got healed, she will rebuild the mosque with her own money, which she did after she got better.

[8] Sultan Abdulaziz ordered to form a committee that consisted of three employees in the mosque and the mayor of Adhamiyah.

[21] In 1910, Sultan Abdul Hamid II ordered to reconstruct the mosque, renew the wall and build more rooms for students and poor people.

[23] The Sunni endowment, with the corporation of several companies and families, rebuilt the destroyed parts of the mosque, until it was fully recovered in 2004.

The main hall contained two niches covered with geometric motifs with four pillars built around them, decorated with gorgeous trappings and writings of Al-Baqara.

[25] The mosque had two hallways that surround the main hall, one from the east and another from the north, with an area of 800 square metres (8,600 sq ft) each.

After examining it, he found it very damaged and incapable to function, so he requested making another clock that looks like the old one from the Directorate of Religious Endowments.

[30] He hanged it on a high wall in house until October 10, 1932, where an exhibition was opened, where Mahsoob displayed the clock and got the first place for it.

Abu Hanifa is buried in the middle of the room, his grave covered by a wooden Zarih with metal bars.