Regilious Significance of Damascus Mosque
The Mosque as mentioned above held a pre-Islamic religious sacredness. By becoming a mosque, this structure was transformed into a centre of the Muslim Caliphate (especially in the Ummayyad period) with its enlightening rays reaching the furthest parts of Muslim land in Asia, Africa and Europe.
Historic sources, mainly attributed by Muslim historians, connected the mosque with a number of religiously celebrated figures. The first connection has been established with John the Baptist, also known as Prophet Yahya, whose remains were incorporated within the mosque. Ibn al-Faqih reported that Zayd Ibn al-Waqid, who was the head in chief of the works on the Mosque, discovered the scull of Prophet Yahya in a nearby cave and that Caliph al-Walid ordered it to be reburied in one of the Mosque piers known as Amud al-Sakasik. Today, it is believed that these relics lay in the Mazar, a Maqsura in the eastern half of the sanctuary.
Harawi noted (in 1173) that the black and white marble columns that support the dome of al-Nasr (the dome in front of the mihrab) belonged to the throne of Bilqis, the queen of Saba. The same source made other unsubstantiated claims such as the mosque containing a stone belonging to the rock which Musa, Moses, struck and from which 12 fountains erupted12. The eastern minaret (called the white minaret or the Minaret of Issa) is believed to be the place where Prophet Issa, Jesus, will descend13.
The Islamic tradition is also said to have had connections with numerous figures with the Mosque. To begin with, some sources suggest that the Prophet's Apostle Abu Ubaida Ibn Al-Jarrah was the designer of the mosque14. What is more, there are the Mihrabs which, apart from the centre, were originally built for maqsuras which belonged to infamous people. The Companions Mihrab belonged to the Maqsura of the Companions, which was built by Caliph Mu'awiya. This was the first of its kind in the history of Muslim architecture. The Hanafite Mihrab was part of the Hanafite Maqsurah, which was used mainly for educational purposes by this school of Muslim thought.