جامع ومقام التابعي أبو مسلم الخولاني

Darayya, the southern suburb of Damascus whose fields of apricot, fig and vine once supplied the capital with some of its finest fruits and whose name appears in early Arabic chronicles as a village of piety and learning, preserves within its modest streets the maqam, or shrine, of the tabii Abu Muslim al Khawlani, may God have mercy upon him, one of the great successors of the companions of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him and his family. Abu Muslim was a Yemeni scholar who migrated to greater Syria during the caliphate of Umar ibn al Khattab, may God be pleased with him, and whose profound worship, patient teaching and moving supplications are recorded across the classical biographical dictionaries such as the tabaqat of Ibn Sad and the hilyat al awliya of Abu Nuaym al Isfahani. Darayya itself suffered gravely during the Syrian war of the past decade, with much of its fabric damaged by prolonged siege and bombardment, and the shrine complex of Abu Muslim al Khawlani bore its share of injury. Before the conflict the building combined a modest prayer hall roofed by a single pale dome with a separate burial chamber marked by wooden lattices, carved inscriptions naming the tabii and his virtues and a forecourt planted with cypress and pomegranate. The shrine drew pilgrims from across the Levant and beyond, and the annual mawlid celebration of the Prophet's birth was especially attended here. Inside, the carpet was laid in deep green, the mihrab was framed by painted plaster in the Shami tradition and the mimbar rose in three timber steps. Daily prayers gathered worshippers from the surrounding orchards, the Jumu'ah sermon was delivered in classical Arabic with Shami colloquial passages and Ramadan evenings brought iftar of fattoush, kibbeh, stuffed vine leaves, kunafa and sage tea. Visitors should dress modestly, leave shoes on the tile threshold and observe quiet near the burial chamber. Nearby stand the Umayyad mosque deep within old Damascus, the Sayyida Zainab shrine with its silver dome, the Qasyun mountain overlooking the city and the orchards of the Ghouta rebuilding slowly from the devastation suffered lately here.