Az Zawiya Al Jirahiya

Mujir Dine Al Hanbali said about this Zawiya “It is situated at the periphery of Al Qods from the northern side.” It is still located in the district of Sheikh Jarrah in Al Qods.

It was leaved as a pious legacy by Prince Husam Din Ben Sharaf Din ‘Issa Al Jirahi, one of the princes of Sultan Salah Din Al Ayyubi. Prince Husam Din died in 598 H/ 1201 A.D, and was buried in this zawiya. It has an endowment and organized functions as mentioned by Mujir Din Al ‘Ulaimi Al Hanbali, and as listed in the registers of the legal court. At its periphery, in the direction of the qibla (Mecca), one finds the tombs of a group of militants, who are said to be from the group of Al Jirahi, but only Allah Knows better.

There are engraved inscriptions on its outside western wall. Such engravings occur on the tombstone, which is stuck onto the wall. It states the name of Al Husain Ben ‘Issa Al Jirahi. From an architectural point of view, it is composed of a sky-open courtyard, surrounded by a number of rooms which have different sizes, areas and ceilings. The largest one is the mausoleum room, which is a simply built square-shaped room. It is covered by a dome which towers a circle, the supporting element of the dome, which is itself sitting on top of the pillars of the square, with an arch in each corner.

In the middle of the southern wall of the room, a mihrab takes the form of an arch, which is deeply seated in the wall. The tomb occupies the middle of the room, and is made up of a rectangular stone construction of high elevation. It is now covered by sets of green material cloths. To reach the room of the tomb, one takes an entry on the north of the building. The entry is simply-designed on the northern wall.

There is a written stone engraving, in the middle of the western wall of the mausoleum, from the exterior. The engraving contains the name of Prince Al Jirahi and the year of his death. A small room has been adjoined to this wall and now the engravings are inside the room, to which access is possible through a three-step stairway.

As to the prayer room which is located at the south-western part of the zawiya it is a recent addition which was built in 1313 H/1895 A.D. It is a rectangular-shaped room, which has a levelled surface and two vaulted windows in each of its southern, western and eastern walls. It has an entrance in the northern wall, which faces the mihrab in the southern wall. The mihrab is constituted of an arch supported by two columns. The minaret is located on the north-western corner, on the western side of the prayer room. It consists of a stone construction of two levels. The first one is square shaped and constitutes the base of the minaret, and the second has an octagonal shape.

It is worth mentioning that this zawiya used to be called Al Jirahiya school, which leads one to believe that it may have been once used as a school, or that it had both functions, the function of a school and that of the zawiya.