The Al-Khanqah al-SalahiyyaMosque (Arabic: مسجد الخانقاه الصلاحيةal-Khānqāh aṣ-Ṣalāḥiyya) is an Islamic place of worship located in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, north of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.[1][2][3] It was named after Saladin, who endowed it. As the name indicates, the complex was originally a khanqah, a place for gatherings of Sufi Islamic adherents, including dervishes. The complex today comprises the mosque as well as a school, a public sitting room, rooms for military officers, a dining room for wayfarers, small rooms for guards, and a very small room for Saladin’s spiritual retreat.[4]
Following the Crusader surrender of Jerusalem to Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn (Saladin) in 1187, it became al-Khānqāh aṣ-Ṣalāḥiyya (lit.'the lodge of Saladin'). The building comprised a mosque, a school, a public sitting room, rooms for military officers, a dining room for wayfarers, and small rooms originally for guards, as well as a very small room for Salah ad-Din (Saladin)'s spiritual retreat. As the name indicates, it has also been a Khanqah, a convent of Sufi adherents.[4]
The minaret was built in 1417, during the Mamluk period.[5][6] The minaret is almost identical to that of the Mosque of Omar, located on the other side of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.[2] The two minarets were obviously designed as a pair; a line connecting the two minarets would intersect the door of the Tomb of Jesus inside the church, and the minarets are equidistant to that door[7] with their tops at exactly the same elevation despite starting at different ground levels.[8]
Burgoyne, Michael Hamilton (1987). Mamluk Jerusalem. British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem by the World of Islam Festival Trust. ISBN090503533X. (pp. 517−518)
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