Sidna Ali Mosque
Encyclopedia
The Sidna Ali Mosque is a Muslim place of worship
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...

 located in the depopulated village of Al-Haram
Al-Haram, Jaffa
Al-Haram, also Sayyiduna Ali or Sidna Ali, was an Arab village in the District of Jaffa in Mandatory Palestine. It was located 16 km north of Jaffa, adjacent to the ruins of the ancient city of Arsuf, also known as Apollonia...

 on the beach in the northern part of Herzliya
Herzliya
Herzliya is a city in the central coast of Israel, at the western part of the Tel Aviv District. It has a population of 87,000 residents. Named after Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism, Herzliya covers an area of 26 km²...

 in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

.

History

The mosque was originally a 13th century Mamluk
Mamluk
A Mamluk was a soldier of slave origin, who were predominantly Cumans/Kipchaks The "mamluk phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior...

 construction built in honour of one of Saladin
Saladin
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb , better known in the Western world as Saladin, was an Arabized Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty. He led Muslim and Arab opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant...

s lieutenants who fought bravely against the Crusader
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...

s and died in a battle on the hill on which the mosque now stands. His shrine
Shrine
A shrine is a holy or sacred place, which is dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon or similar figure of awe and respect, at which they are venerated or worshipped. Shrines often contain idols, relics, or other such objects associated with the figure being venerated....

 is now housed within the building.

It now serves both as a mosque and as a religious school
Madrasah
Madrasah is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, whether secular or religious...

.

Architecture

During the turn of the century it was rebuilt as a caravanserai
Caravanserai
A caravanserai, or khan, also known as caravansary, caravansera, or caravansara in English was a roadside inn where travelers could rest and recover from the day's journey...

 and went through restorations in 1992.
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