The government of the deys could not ignore the tomb of the theologian who had made the reputation of Algiers in the West as in the East. It is dey Hadj Ahmed el Atchi, who decides to transform the tomb into a mosque in 1696, more precisely into a zaouïa. The koubba of Maghrebian type is going to be influenced by a new style, with a cover in dome similar to that of Anatolia. 

The sepulchral chamber is equipped with a mihrab comprising two columns and earthenware from Asia Minor and is used as an oratory, which may seem a suspicious feature with regard to Islam, which forbids prayer on a tomb. A square minaret is added to the ensemble for the call to prayer.