The walls of the mosque were made of lime concrete on top of a rubble stone base. The interior of the mosque was in hypostyle format and was divided by rows of columns into 21 aisles running perpendicular to the "qibla" wall (the southern/southeastern wall in the direction of prayer). The most central aisle and the two aisles along the far sides were wider than the others. Notably, the mosque was given cylindrical stone columns rather than the brick piers more commonly seen in Almohad architecture. These columns were to be formed from drums of differing height, an idea that, while innovative at the time, slowed construction significantly and contributed to the mosque's unfinished state. Scholar Christian Ewert has speculated that since the new capital and its mosque were intended as a staging area for troops going to Al-Andalus, some of the motivation for this unusual design feature may have been a desire to evoke the columns of the Great Mosque of Cordoba, the most celebrated mosque in Al-Andalus. The plan originally included three small inner courtyards, one in the back, parallel to the "qibla", and the other two on either side of the prayer hall, allowing daylight and fresh air to flow in through the arcades. This was another unusual feature, as most mosques had only one main courtyard, but the motivation for this design was likely due to the mosque's size and the need to bring more light in into its unprecedently large interior.