Sayed al-Hashim Mosque

The Sayed al-Hashim Mosque stands in the Darraj quarter, in the northern part of Gaza City's Old City, roughly one kilometre from the Great Omari Mosque. Sources describe it as one of the oldest and most skilfully built mosques in Gaza. According to Muslim tradition, Hashim ibn Abd al-Manaf, the great-grandfather of the Prophet Muhammad, died in Gaza during a trading journey, and his tomb lies beneath the mosque's dome. The mosque takes its name from this tradition. Our record gives 1850 as the year of construction.

Citing the Palestinian Encyclopedia, the Arabic source considers it likely that the Mamluks first founded the mosque. The same source says the Ottoman sultan Abdulmejid renovated it in 1830, a date that does not match the 1850 given in our record.

Historical references also mention a school at the mosque, established with waqf funds by the Supreme Islamic Council in Palestine. During the First World War a bomb struck and damaged the building, and the Supreme Islamic Council afterwards rebuilt it to a better condition than before. The mosque was hit again during the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip in 2024.