GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The 700-year-old Zawiya Al-Ahmadiyya, the oldest Mamluk religious building in the Gaza Strip, is currently being restored.
Zawia is the Arabic term for a Sufi institute. Zawiya Al-Ahmadiyya takes its name after one of the most famous Sufi scholars who lived in Gaza, Ahmed Al-Badawi (1199-1276). The Ahmadiyya order is one of the most famous Sufi orders, with adepts scattered around the world, including 2,300 in the Palestinian territories and 100 in the Gaza Strip.
Many historical sources report that the Mamluk governor of Gaza, Tarantai Al-Jokandar, in cooperation with Badawi’s followers, built the Zawiya Al-Ahmadiyya east of Gaza City in 1336. But the site suffered serious damages and cracks in the walls and ceiling over the years. The restoration operations carried out by non-specialists have sometimes made the situation worse.
The Iwan Center for Cultural Heritage at the Faculty of Engineering at the Islamic University announced in May that it received a grant from the British Barakat Trust fund to restore the site. A team of specialists affiliated with the center started work on June 19.
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