Published On 18/10/2025
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Last update: 07:37 (Mecca time)
The Moroccan Masmoudi Zawiya is a private endowment in Jerusalem belonging to the Mujahid Omar al-Masmoudi, who endowed it in the year 703 AH/1303 AD. It includes a mosque and two floors, each with 10 rooms. It was a destination for Sufi scholars and pilgrims from the Maghreb. At that time, Morocco meant the regions of North Africa located after Egypt, or what was later known as the Maghreb region (from Libya to Mauritania).
The zawiya played a cultural and religious role before the Moroccan neighborhood – which includes the Masmoudi zawiya – was demolished in 1967 after the occupation of East Jerusalem.
Location and establishment
Al-Zawiya Al-Masmoudiyah is located at the top of Al-Maghariba Alley from the west, outside Al-Aqsa Mosque, and is located a few meters from the Khalidiya Library.
It was founded by Sheikh Omar Al-Mujarred in the year 703 AH/1303 AD from his own money, and he endowed it for importing Moroccans.
Who is Sheikh Omar Al-Masmoudi?
Sheikh Omar bin Abdullah bin Abdul Nabi Al-Maghribi Al-Masmoudi Al-Mujarrib, one of the prominent Maliki figures in Morocco. Mujir al-Din al-Hanbali mentions that he was a righteous man, and he reconstructed the corner and established it with his own money and gave it to the poor and needy.
He died in the city of Jerusalem and was buried in the Maman Allah cemetery near Housh al-Bistamiya.
History of the corner
This corner is called several names, including “the Moroccan corner,” “Abu Madin’s corner,” and “Al-Masmoudi’s corner,” and it adopts the Maliki doctrine in its approach.
Sheikh Omar Al-Masmoudi endowed it to accommodate Moroccan visitors, whether they reside in Jerusalem or are passing through, and it also works to support those who are absent from it for worship and remembrance.
Al-Masmoudi endowed the yield of 3 houses to the interests of the corner, and he personally supervised these endowments and all their belongings, in order to ensure their endowment mission and the integrity of responsibility.
In the event of his absence or death, he stipulated that the supervisor of its endowments be of selected Moroccans who were pious and righteous.
When the Zawiya became famous and its service to Moroccans arriving in Jerusalem, it became their first destination until a house was arranged to accommodate them for the duration of their stay in the city.
As the years passed, the Zawia building was affected by the ravages of time, and was restored more than once, bearing the characteristics of Ottoman architecture. It was spared destruction in 1967, and remained a refuge for Moroccan families who survived displacement after the setback.
Description of the angle
The zawiya building consists of a mosque, two floors, and an open courtyard. Each floor contains 10 rooms, and on the door of the zawiya there is an inscription indicating its name and the date of its founding.
After the demolition of the entire neighborhood, only the Moroccan Zawiya remained, where a small group of Moroccan families reside.