This spring in Ayn Karim marks the place where tradition holds that Sayyidah Maryam drank during her visit to the family of Nabi Zakariya (AS). Known in…
This spring in Ayn Karim marks the place where tradition holds that Sayyidah Maryam drank during her visit to the family of Nabi Zakariya (AS). Known in Arabic as ‘Ayn Sitti Maryam (عين ستي مريم), it lies beside the village’s Ottoman mosque west of Jerusalem. Christian tradition relates that Sayyidah Maryam stopped at the spring while visiting Sayyidah Isha, the wife of Nabi Zakariya (AS) and mother of Nabi Yahya (AS). Sayyidah Maryam and the house of Nabi Zakariya The Qur’an places Sayyidah Maryam under the care of Nabi Zakariya (AS). After witnessing the provision Allah granted her, Nabi Zakariya (AS) prayed for a righteous child; Allah then announced the birth of Nabi Yahya (AS). Ayn Karim is traditionally identified with the home of this family, joining the spring to the intertwined stories of Sayyidah Maryam, Nabi Zakariya (AS) and Nabi Yahya (AS). The mosque above the spring The spring formed the historic centre of Ayn Karim and supplied the village with water from ancient times. Local tradition also holds that Sayyiduna Umar ibn al-Khattab (RA), the second caliph, prayed and drank here after the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem. The mosque standing above the spring dates to 1244 AH/1828–1829 CE, the year recorded by an inscription in its courtyard. A school was later established with the mosque and occupied an upper floor during the early twentieth century. Ayn Karim was one of the largest Palestinian villages in the Jerusalem district before its depopulation in 1948. The mosque ceased functioning after the displacement of the village’s Muslim residents, while its minaret and the spring preserve the site’s connection with the former village and its Islamic life.