Jerusalem
يحدّد محراب عمر بن الخطاب (محراب عمر بن الخطاب) مكان الصلاة الذي أنشأه سيدنا عمر بن الخطاب رضي الله عنه في المسجد الأقصى بعد دخول المسلمين إلى القدس. يقع…
Mihrab Umar ibn al-Khattab (محراب عمر بن الخطاب) marks the prayer place established by Sayyiduna Umar ibn al-Khattab (RA) at Masjid al-Aqsa after the Muslim entry into Jerusalem. The mihrab, a niche indicating the direction of Makkah, stands along the southern side of Masjid al-Aqsa, within the area known as Musalla Umar beside the Qibli prayer hall. Its position preserves the association between Sayyiduna Umar ibn al-Khattab (RA), the second caliph, and the restoration of congregational prayer at al-Aqsa. Sayyiduna Umar’s prayer at al-Aqsa When Jerusalem came under Muslim rule, Sayyiduna Umar ibn al-Khattab (RA) travelled from Madinah to receive the city. The historian al-Tabari records that he entered the sanctuary, prayed at the Mihrab of Nabi Dawud (AS), and later led the Muslims in the dawn prayer, reciting Surah Sad and Surah al-Isra. Al-Tabari also relates that Sayyiduna Umar ibn al-Khattab (RA) consulted Sayyiduna Ka‘b al-Ahbar (RA) about where the Muslim prayer place should be established. He rejected a position that would place the Rock between the worshippers and Makkah, directing that the prayer place face the Ka‘bah without adopting the Rock as its orientation. A named landmark in the early books of Jerusalem The Mihrab of Sayyiduna Umar ibn al-Khattab (RA) was already treated as a distinct landmark by the Jerusalem scholar Ibn al-Murajja al-Maqdisi, whose eleventh-century work on the merits of Bayt al-Maqdis includes a chapter devoted to it. Later restoration of the mihrab is associated with the Ayyubid renewal of Masjid al-Aqsa following the recovery of Jerusalem under Salahuddin al-Ayubi in 583 AH/1187.