Damascus, Syria As if the Tomb of Saladin wasn’t enough, Damascus also boasts the gravesite of yet another of the greatest Islamic military commanders of all time: Abu Al-Futah, better known as Baybars, who led the beleagured Muslims of Syria and Egypt to tremendous victories against both the Crusaders and the Mongols. Although Baybars did not restore the Islamic Empire of … [Read more...]
SIDNA ALI MOSQUE (MASJID SIDNA ALI)
Jaffa, Palestine The Masjid Sidna Ali is one of the oldest surviving mosques in Palestine. Built on the site of a bloody battle between the armies of Saladin and Christian Crusaders, it is one of the last remaining 13th century Mamluk constructions in the region. It is also the location of the tomb of Al-Hasan ibn Ali, a direct descendent of Umar, the second caliph. After … [Read more...]
AL-SHAFFEI MOSQUE (MASJID AL-SHAFFEI)
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Jeddah, the City of a Thousand Mosques, is one of the most important historical cities of Islam. Because Jeddah stands in the immense shadows of Mecca and Medina, it is perhaps easy to forget that this ancient port city was once the commercial powerhouse of the region. It was Jeddah that made the Hejaz region economically viable in Muhammad’s day, and as … [Read more...]
MAUSOLEUM OF SALADIN
Damascus, Syria Between the end of the Rashidun Caliphate and the modern day, there has been no greater Islamic political figure than Saladin Yusuf ibn Ayyub. Saladin, one of the most gifted and respected leaders and military commanders in history, rallied the Islamic world in one of its darkest hours to a tremendous strategic victory over the combined Christian armies of … [Read more...]
ALAEDDIN MOSQUE (MASJID ALAEDDIN)
Konya, Turkey The Masjid Alaeddin is the great mosque of the city of Konya which for many years was the capital of the Seljuk kingdom in Asia Minor. Aside from being the chief mosque of the Seljuk sultans in the Middle Ages, it was also their chief burial site. The tombs of at least eight Seljuk rulers from the 12th and 13th centuries are located within the Masjid Alaeddin, … [Read more...]
JAMEH MOSQUE (MASJID JAMEH)
Esfahan, Iran Esfahan occupies a strange, undefinable niche in the impressive catalog of Persian-Iranian cities. It is not the current the capital city, nor the largest, nor the oldest. It is not home to major pilgrimage sites, Shi’ite or otherwise, and is eclipsed by other cities of greater religious importance. And yet for all of that, Esfahan is the most quintessential … [Read more...]
AL-OMARI MOSQUE (MASJID AL-OMARI)
Beirut, Lebanon There are few places in the world which have changed hands between Christians and Muslims quite so often as the old Phoenician Coast in the Eastern Mediterranean. As a result there are few places in the world where Christian and Muslim coexistence, peaceful or not, has lasted quite so long. The enduring architectural symbol of this coexistence, if there is … [Read more...]
CHINGUETTI MOSQUE (MASJID CHINGUETTI)
Chinguetti, Mauritania After its initial arrival in the Maghreb, Islam took centuries to slowly diffuse down into Western Africa. When it finally did, a number of cities sprang up in the Sahara to help facilitate the spreading of Islam southwards and trade from the rich coastlands northwards. The earliest of these to rise to prominence was Chinguetti in Mauritania. … [Read more...]
ALHAMBRA PALACE
Granada, Spain When the monarchs of medieval Europe still dwelt in dim, brooding castles, the Moors of Spain were building light and airy pleasure palaces the likes of which hadn’t been seen in Europe since Roman times. After most of the Moorish kingdoms fell to the Reconquista, the Alhambra survived well into the 1400s. For centuries the Alhambra was the greatest royal … [Read more...]
KOUTOUBIA MOSQUE (MASJID KOUTOUBIA)
Marrakesh, Morocco Morocco boasts many of Africa’s most famous cities, and the most quintessentially exotic of all Moroccan cities is storied Marrakesh, which is home to some of the best Islamic architecture in the region. It boasts several of Morocco’s best preserved palaces, countless mosques and madrassas, a magnificent casbah and one of the world’s largest traditional … [Read more...]
