Acre, Israel Occupied Palestine
Coordinates: 32.922756, 35.070463
Al-Jazzar Mosque, also known as the White Mosque, is located on el-Jazzar Street inside the walls of the old city of Acre, overlooking the eastern Mediterranean Sea, and is named after the Ottoman Bosnian governor Ahmad Pasha el-Jazzar (“the Butcher”).
Sha’r an-Nabi
The mosque houses the Sha’r an-Nabi, a hair (or lock of hair) from the beard of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
The Sha’r an-Nabi used to be paraded through Acre on Eid al-Fitr, ending the fast of Ramadan, but is now only shown to the congregation.
The relic is kept inside the mosque in a glass cabinet placed at the women’s upper floor gallery.
Description of the mosque
It is the largest mosque in Israel outside of Jerusalem and considered as one of the most picturesque points of interest in Akko.
The el-Jazzar Mosque was the project of its namesake, Ahmad Pasha el-Jazzar, the Acre-based governor of the Sidon and Damascus provinces, who was famous for his impressive public works, and the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte at the Siege of Acre in 1799.
El-Jazzar ordered the mosque’s construction in 1781 and had it completed within the year. Despite lacking architectural training, el-Jazzar was the architect of the mosque, drawing up its plans and design, and supervising its entire construction.
In addition to the mosque itself, the complex included an Islamic theological academy with student lodging, an Islamic court and a public library.
He modeled the mosque on the mosques of Istanbul, the Ottoman capital.
The el-Jazzar Mosque was built over former Muslim and Christian prayer houses and other Crusader buildings.
Building materials for the mosque, particularly its marble and granite components, were taken from the ancient ruins of Caesarea, Atlit and medieval Acre.
Adjacent to the mosque is a mausoleum and small graveyard containing the tombs of Jazzar Pasha and his adoptive son and successor, Sulayman Pasha, and their relatives.
Know This
It costs 10 Shekels to have the write to enter and see the garden inside and see the interior of the mosque.
You need to be dressed appropriately (women need to cover their heads). The experience lasts about 10 minutes.
