Criterion (ii): Damascus, as capital of the Umayyad caliphate - the first Islamic caliphate - was of key importance in the development of subsequent Arab cities. With its Great Mosque at the heart of an urban plan deriving from the Graeco-Roman grid, the city provided the exemplary model for the Arab Muslim world.
Damascus was captured by Muslim Arab forces led by Khalid ibn al-Walid in 634. In 661, the Islamic Caliphate came under the rule of the Umayyad dynasty, which chose Damascus to be the administrative capital of the Muslim world.
Damascus has a special place in early Christianity, through its connection to St. Paul and his conversion to Christianity. According to the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, St. Paul encountered Christ on the road to Damascus.
Narrated AbudDarda': The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: The place of assembly of the Muslims at the time of the war will be in al-Ghutah near a city called Damascus, one of the best cities in Syria.
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What is the prophecy of Damascus in Islam?
Abu Hurayrah narrates that the Prophet said: A man will emerge from the depths of Damascus. He will be called Sufyani. Most of those who follow him will be from the tribe of Kalb.
He shall emerge from Yahoodiya village of Isfahan. On his forehead would be inscribed: 'Kafir' (disbeliever) which would readable to the literate as well as the illiterate. He shall jump into the seas. The Sun will follow him.
This is the city where Yahya (as) was buried, the Prophet ﷺ traded, Bilal (ra) and Abu Darda (ra) settled, in which Salah al-Din Ayyubi (rh) was raised, and where Isa (as) will return and pray. Dr. Omar Suleiman explains these and many other reasons why this is a place revered by the believers.
The siege of Damascus (634) lasted from 21 August to 19 September 634 before the city fell to the Rashidun Caliphate. Damascus was the first major city of the Eastern Roman Empire to fall in the Muslim conquest of Syria.
Damascus steel originally referred to swords made from wootz, a high-carbon steel created about two thousand years ago. The blades were regarded for their strength, flexibility, and ability to retain a keen edge, as well as the distinct water-like pattern of the metal.
1Here is a prophecy against Damascus that the Lord gave me. He said, “Damascus will not be a city anymore. Instead, all its buildings will be knocked down.
The city is also known as aš-Šām by the citizens of Damascus, of Syria and other Arab neighbors and Turkey (Şam). Aš-Šām is an Arabic term for "Levant" and for "Syria"; the latter, and particularly the historical region of Syria, is called Bilād aš-Šām (بلاد الشام, lit.
Dressed in saffron robes with his head anointed, Jesus will descend at the point of a white minaret, in eastern Damascus, which is believed to be the Minaret of Isa in the Umayyad Mosque. He will then greet the Mahdi and (being a Muslim) pray beside him.
After the Muslims' victory at the Battle of Yarmouk in 636 CE, Syria became an integral part of the Islamic Caliphate under the Rashidun, and later the Umayyads made Damascus the capital of the Islamic world. The city of Damascus became a beacon of Islamic scholarship, governance, and culture.
The Ka'aba (“cube”) is the most sacred site in Islam, known as the sacred bayt Allah (House of God). It is located at the heart of the sacred mosque Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
Both Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims agree on the three Holiest sites in Islam being, respectively, the Masjid al-Haram (including the Kaaba), in Mecca; the Al-Masjid an-Nabawi, in Medina; and Al-Masjid al-Aqsa, in Jerusalem.
The present-day mosque, located on the south wall of the compound, was originally built by the fifth Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik ( r. 685–705) or his successor al-Walid I ( r. 705–715) (or both) as a congregational mosque on the same axis as the Dome of the Rock, a commemorative Islamic monument.
Attempting to enter Mecca as a non-Muslim can result in penalties such as a fine; being in Mecca as a non-Muslim can result in deportation. In Medina, non-Muslims are not allowed to enter Nabawi Square, where the Al-Masjid Al-Nabawi is located.
According to Exodus 14:18, Noah passed the skull to his son, Shem, and then to Melchizedek, the priest-king of Jerusalem, who buried Adam's remains at the foot of Golgotha. The tomb of Melchizedek once lay in the cave but was destroyed by fire in 1808. The site is sometimes called the Chapel of Melchizedek.
The Umayyad dynasty was a caliphate that governed the Muslim world from 661 until 750. After this dynasty came to power, Damascus became the capital of the Islamic Empire. The mosque was built between 705 and 715 on the orders of the Caliph al-Walid I.
Prophet Yusuf was not buried on land; instead, his coffin was placed in the River Nile. It was Prophet Musa (Moses), who came centuries later, that removed his body from the river and buried it in the soil, hundreds of kilometers away from Egypt.
Tamīm ibn Aws al-Dārī (Arabic: تميم بن أوس الداري, died 661) was a companion of Muhammad and an early convert from Christianity to Islam. In Islamic eschatology he is known for encountering Dajjal during one of his journeys.
Dajjal, or al-Masīḥ al-Dajjāl (in Arabic: المسيح الدجال) is “the Lying Christ (Antichrist)”, “the Deceiver/Imposter”, a maleficent eschatological figure which prophet Muḥammad said would appear before the Day of Resurrection.
"There will be three hard years before the Dajjal (appears). During them, people will be stricken by a great famine. In the first year, Allah will command the sky to withhold a third of its rain, and the earth to withhold a third a third of its produce.
