DARUL HADITH ASHRAFIYYA
How to get here:
Just a 4 minute walk from the Umawi Musjid in the direction of the Citadel.
- The second institute in the world to specialise in hadith (sayings of Muhammad SAW) was built in 1235 CE by Sultan Ashraf al-Muzaffar ad-Din of the Ayyubid dynasty. It was the first of its kind in Damascus and similar institutes were initiated in Cairo and other major cities thereafter.
- Well-known scholars like Taqī al-Dīn ibn Salah and Taqī al-Dīn al-Subkī were known to have taught here.
- The structure was damaged during the Mongol invasion in the 13th century as well as in 1912 and was rebuilt thereafter. Today it functions as a library.