8/6/2024–|Last updated: 6/8/202405:19 PM (Mecca time)
An old mosque in Jerusalem. It was founded in 940 AH / 1533 AD. It is located in Al-Saadia neighborhood inside the Islamic Quarter, north of Al-Aqsa Mosque. It can be reached through the entrance to Bab Al-Sahira or Passion.
Label
The Red Minaret Mosque was named after the red band that surrounded the balcony of its minaret and the color of the stone used in its construction. It is considered one of the oldest mosques in Jerusalem.
It was also called Aladdin Al-Khalouti Mosque after its founder, Sheikh Aladdin Al-Khalouti, who was one of the leaders of Sufism in Jerusalem in the tenth century AH / 16th century AD.
Its history and establishment
It was built by Sheikh Alaa al-Din Ali bin Shams al-Din Muhammad al-Khalouti in the year 940 AH/1533 AD, and it was known by his name in the first half of the 16th century. Then the people of Jerusalem called it the Red Minaret Mosque, and it is one of the most important buildings built during the era of the Ottoman Empire.
This mosque is considered one of the prominent Ottoman landmarks in the city of Jerusalem. It consists of a building and a prayer hall located in the southwestern side of the building, and a tall minaret characterized by an architectural design influenced by late Mamluk architecture.
Its minaret is considered a circular minaret that rests on a square base above the ground, unlike minarets mounted on buildings.
It is distinguished by its small square shape, as the area of the prayer house does not exceed 36 square metres. It was built of successive red and white stone. It contains a door in the northern wall and a beautiful mihrab in the southern wall.
The roof of the mosque features a cross-shaped fan vault containing a star dome, in addition to the prominent minaret, the bathroom, and the remains of the hakura, which includes fruit trees.
The legal arguments and documents of the Islamic Heritage Revival and Research Foundation contain references to some of the employees who were Turkish and Jerusalemite elements, and who contributed to the care of the mosque.
These documents also indicate that restoration work was carried out more than five times in the first half of the 20th century, especially since 1909 AD. The mosque was illuminated in 1960 AD, and two decades after that date its external walls were painted.
A weekly gathering of elite scholars of Jerusalem is held in the Red Minaret Mosque. The mosque has not been spared from the ongoing Israeli attacks on the Holy City, and the matter has reached the point of preventing the call to prayer being called in it.
Clear corner (red)
Al-Zawiya Al-Khalutiyya is located in the northern section of the Old City of Jerusalem, west of the Red Minaret Mosque Road, near Al-Bistami Aqaba.
This corner is used by those in seclusion when they are prevented from praying and secluding themselves in Al-Aqsa Mosque, as they seclude themselves in the Red Minaret Mosque.
