Al-Rifa’i zawiya is attributed to an Iraqi Sufi named Ahmed bin Ali Al-Rifa’i Al-Basri, according to the Islamic Endowments Department, and it received bread, oil, and money from the Ottoman Empire.
According to the researcher and expert in Jerusalem affairs, Khalil Al-Tafakji, most of the members of the Zawiya are the Abu Al-Saud family from Jerusalem, and when the first Islamic conference was held in 1931 inside Jerusalem, the Zawiya hosted many scholars and served as a shelter for them.
Today, the Zawiya building is used as an office for the Mufti of Jerusalem and the Palestinian territories and a headquarters for the preachers of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Zawiyas are widespread in the city of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque and were used as places of worship, sheltering and helping the needy, or receiving guests of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
