Zawiyat Ibn Arraq

Beirut’s only remaining Mamluk building, built in 1517 by the religious authority Mohammad Ibn Arraq Al-Dimashqi.

Initially a hospice, it remained a private madrasa (college of jurisprudence) and a zawiya until late Ottoman times.

A small domed building is all that remains today of the late Mamluk zawiya (prayer corner) of Ibn ‘Arraq Al-Dimashqi.

A small domed building is all that remains today of the late Mamluk zawiya (prayer corner) of Ibn ‘Arraq Al-Dimashqi.

It is recorded that he chose this location to be near the former house of Imam ‘Abd Al-Rahman al-Ouzai’i (8th century), whose reputation for holiness and justice spread throughout the Muslim world.