Khanqah of Salahuddin Ayyubi | Jerusalem | Palestine
Ha-Notsrim St 30, Jerusalem
A dark archway and an old uninspiring plastic plaque are all that mark the entrance to the residence and mosque of Salahuddin Ayyubi, the iconic 12th century Muslim general who retook Jerusalem during the Crusades, then went on to rule the city.
Inside are various nods to that history; his name inscribed below the words Allah and Muhammad on the mosque’s metal window grates, a hatch that guides to an old cistern and a green door, now locked, that leads to the top of the neighboring Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
It was from those roofs of the holiest site in Christianity that Salahuddin used to observe Jerusalem’s Christian population, according to Imam Ahmad Shalhoub and other locals.
Despite the historical significance of the Khanqah Salihiyya, as the mosque is known, it has few worshipers and rarely hosts visitors. The only other mosque in the city’s Christian quarter was built in honor of the early Caliph Omar Ibn al-Khattab – Jerusalem’s first Muslim conqueror – who did not pray in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in respect for its importance to Christians.
Featured image: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/todays-headlines/jerusalem-the-missing-muslim-historical-narrative-/512341
