Publication Date
15 Muharram 1043 / 22 July 1633
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Record ID
monument;ISL;pa;Mon01;30;ar
Library Location
It is located inside the Old City, on the northern side of Barquq Road, which connects Bab Al-Ghawanmeh - one of the gates of the Holy Mosque - and Al-Wad Road, Jerusalem
Date
15 Muharram 1043 / 22 July 1633
Notes
Al-Zawiya al-Qadiriya is considered one of the few buildings in Jerusalem that has preserved its original layout and architectural fabric without any fundamental change, and it continues to perform its original function to this day. Generous endowments were established on this corner, a large number of employees worked there, and many residents of the city and visitors to it frequented it. The Qadiriyya zawiya is attributed to Sheikh Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (died 561/1166), the founder of the Qadiriyya Sufi order in the Islamic world. The reason why this zawiya is sometimes called the Afghan zawiya is due to the residence of a group of Afghans in Jerusalem in the past decades, and some of them recently took over its management. The Qadiriya zawiya has two external facades: western and southern. The western façade is simple in construction, consisting of a group of medium-sized refined stone courses. Only small windows are opened to provide natural lighting to the corner rooms. The southern facade is the main facade, and the only entrance to the corner was opened in it. The entrance to the corner is three steps above the level of the street floor, and the entrance is bordered on each side by a stone terrace. A door opened in the corner inside a recessed apse surmounted by a pointed arch. A stone tablet was attached to the front of this necklace, on which was engraved an inscription in Naskh script consisting of four lines, separated from each other by simple cartouches. This inscription includes the name of the zawiya, its Sufi order, the name of the owner of the order, and the date of construction. The text of the inscription is as follows: “In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, this is the corner of our master and master, the Qutub of the Knowing and the Sultan of all Saints, Sheikh Abdul Qadir Al-Jilani, may God bless his secret in the year 1043.” The entrance to the corner leads to a short corridor 1.90 meters long and 1.5 meters wide arched by a barrel vault. This corridor leads to an open square, rectangular in shape but with irregular sides, with an area of about 400 square metres. The largest part of this square is planted with various types of trees and plants, which is consistent with the description given in the endowment four centuries ago. This square is surrounded from the south and west by eleven khulas, or small rooms, for Sufis, similar in shape and layout, but different in their surfaces. Each retreat was provided with a door and a small window overlooking the courtyard. On the northern side of the open square are the zawiya facilities and the Sufi meeting hall. It consists of two floors: the ground floor is original, and the upper one was added later and used as a residence for the sheikh of the zawiya. The zawiya includes a mosque located to the east of the entrance and can be reached by a ladder, and thus it is one of the hanging mosques. The layout of this mosque is rectangular, consisting of a prayer hall divided by a pointed arch into two parts. Each section of the hall was covered with a shallow dome, and twelve windows were opened in the walls of the hall to bring light and air into it.
Sample Text
Yusuf al-Natsheh “The Qadiriyya Zawiya” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;pa;Mon01;30;ar
