Two tall minarets with narrow galleries constructed of alternating horizontal rows of white and black stone are situated at the building's northwestern and northeastern comers and reflect the traditional Islamic architecture style of the Levant.

[8] According to local tradition, when Tamerlane invaded Syria in the early 15th century, he spared Homs from destruction because it contained the mosque and the mausoleum of Khalid ibn al-Walid, whom he held in great regard in light of Ibn al-Walid's role as a companion of Islamic prophet Muhammad and a commander of the Muslim Arab army that conquered the city of Damascus and Byzantine Syria.

[8] Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, during Ottoman rule, the Dandan family, the most prominent clan of the Arab Bani Khalid tribe, held a stake in the extended revenue shares of the mausoleum and the mosque.

[13][14] Nazim Hussein Pasha, the Ottoman governor of Syria between 1895 and 1909, during the reign of Sultan Abd al-Hamid II,[8][14] ordered the demolition of the Mamluk-era mosque for renovation.

[8][9][12][14] According to historian David Nicolle, the mosque's construction by the Ottoman government was an attempt to maintain the allegiance of the increasingly restive Arab inhabitants of Syria.

[1] According to The New York Times, Syrian security forces killed 10 protesters participating in a funeral procession as they were leaving the mosque on 18 July 2011.

Following its capture by the Syrian Army, state media showed heavy damage inside the mosque, including some parts of it being burned, and the door to the tomb destroyed.

[18] The mosque is Ottoman in style: it contains a large courtyard, and the "walls are decorated in alternating bands of black and white stone", i.e., Ablaq.

[8] A corner of the mosque also includes a small sarcophagus covered in green cloth, believed to be a tomb of Ubayd Allah ibn Umar.