Mosque of Omar, Jerusalem

This is the place where the Caliph Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) performed salat after the conquest of Jerusalem in 638 CE. The present Mosque of Umar was built over this place by Salahuddin Ayyubi’s son Afdhal Ali in 1193 CE.

At the time when the Muslims first conquered Jerusalem, the Jews had long been banned from Jerusalem and the surrounding areas by the Christian rulers. Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) agreed with Sophronius (the Patriarch of Jerusalem) that the Jews would not be permitted to reside but later revoked this arrangement. Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) invited 70 Jewish families from Tiberias to settle in Jerusalem, allowing them to also build a synagogue.

A copy of the Covenant which Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) had drawn up giving assurances of safety to the (non-Muslim) people of Jerusalem is displayed in the mosque. There is also a small mosque adjacent to the Al-Aqsa Mosque known as the Mosque of Umar.