Jerusalem, Israel Occupied Palestine
Coordinates: 31.777880, 35.229853
The mosque is constructed on the place where Hz. Umar رضي الله عنه prayed after the conquest of Jerusalem.
It is one of the oldest mosque in Palestine.
According to later documents, after the Siege of Jerusalem in 637 by the Rashidun army under the command of Hz. Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah رضي الله عنه, Patriarch Sophronius refused to surrender except to the Caliph Umar رضي الله عنه (579-644) himself.
Hz. Umar رضي الله عنه travelled to Jerusalem and accepted the surrender.
He then visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where Sophronius invited him to pray inside the church, but Hz. Umar رضي الله عنه declined so as not to set a precedent and thereby endanger the church’s status as a Christian site.
He said future generations will turn his place of prayer into a mosque. He was correct and hence this mosque stands today next to the Church.
Instead of praying inside, he prayed outside, on the steps east of the church.
The first Mosque of Hz. Umar رضي الله عنه was later built at that site, as evidenced by a stone plate with a Kufic inscription found in 1897 in the area of the eastern or outer area of the Church, defining this area as a mosque.
Know This
It is located opposite the southern courtyard of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Muristan area of the Christian Quarter.
It is not open for tourists, just for Muslims.
The mosque is accessible down a short staircase from Christian Quarter Road and is generally open exclusively to Muslims.
