Christian tradition holds that Nabi Isa ibn Maryam (AS) shared his final meal with his disciples at this place on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. Known as the…
Christian tradition holds that Nabi Isa ibn Maryam (AS) shared his final meal with his disciples at this place on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. Known as the Cenacle or Upper Room, قاعة العشاء الأخير, it stands south of the Old City walls, close to Bab al-Nabi Dawud. Nabi Isa (AS) was sent to Bani Isra’il, calling them to worship Allah and confirming the truth of the Torah. The Qur’an names his close followers as the hawariyyun, the disciples who declared their faith and supported his mission. Nabi Isa and the table spread Surah al-Ma’idah preserves the disciples’ request for a table spread from heaven. Nabi Isa (AS) answered with a supplication that the meal become a sign from Allah: “Jesus, son of Mary, prayed, ‘O Allah, our Lord! Send us from heaven a table spread with food as a feast for us—the first and last of us—and as a sign from You. Provide for us! You are indeed the Best Provider.’” Surah al-Ma’idah 5:114 The surah takes its name, al-Ma’idah, from this table spread. The account places the shared meal within the relationship between Nabi Isa (AS), his disciples and the signs Allah granted him. The Upper Room on Mount Zion The Cenacle has been identified with the final meal since the early centuries of Christian tradition. A major church known as Holy Zion occupied this part of Mount Zion in the Byzantine period. It was rebuilt during the Crusader period, and the surviving upper chamber belongs principally to the medieval complex. Franciscans acquired the site in the fourteenth century, making it the first headquarters of the Custody of the Holy Land. Ottoman authorities converted the Cenacle into a mosque in the sixteenth century; the mihrab marking the direction of Makkah remains within the room. The chamber occupies the upper floor of the same complex that contains the maqam associated with Nabi Dawud (AS) below.