Located in the historic al-ʿUqaybah quarter near Souq Sarouja, this medieval grave is popularly known among the people of Damascus as the Grave of Shaykh…
Located in the historic al-ʿUqaybah quarter near Souq Sarouja, this medieval grave is popularly known among the people of Damascus as the Grave of Shaykh Mujahid or the Zawiyah of Sultan Mujahid. The surviving inscription identifies the person buried there as Emir Shams al-Din Sharwa ibn Husayn al-Mahrani, an Ayyubid-era military commander described as a chamberlain, warrior and defender of the Muslim lands. He died in Rajab 642 AH/1244 CE. The burial chamber is the principal surviving part of the former al-Majnuniyyah Madrasa and al-Mahrani Ribat, which once served as a centre of religious teaching and spiritual retreat. It contains the emir’s historic stone grave together with two additional graves traditionally attributed to Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qadir and his wife. Although the site remains widely called the shrine of Shaykh or Sultan Mujahid, historical records clarify that this popular name refers to Emir Shams al-Din al-Mahrani and not to a separate ruler named Sultan Mujahid.