Al-Mu'azzam Isa

Sharaf ad-Dīn al-Muʿaẓẓam ʿĪsā (al-Malik al-Muʿaẓẓam ʿĪsā) (1176 – 1227) was the Ayyubid Kurdish emir of Damascus from 1218 to 1227. The son of Sultan al-Adil I and nephew of Saladin, founder of the dynasty, al-Mu'azzam was installed by his father as governor of Damascus in 1198^[1] or 1200.^[2] After his father's death in 1218, al-Mu'azzam ruled the Ayyubid lands in Syria in his own name, down to his own death in 1227.^[2] He was succeeded by his son, an-Nasir Dawud.

Al-Muʿaẓẓam ʿĪsā
Emir of Damascus
Reign	1218–1227
Predecessor	Al-Adil I
Successor	An-Nasir Dawud
Born	1176 Cairo
Died	12 November 1227(1227-11-12) (aged 50–51) Damascus
Dynasty	Ayyubid
Religion	Sunni Islam

He was respected as a man of letters, and was interested in grammar and jurisprudence.^[3] By 1204, Jerusalem was his primary residence.^[1]

Legacy

He ordered and contributed to the construction and restoration of many buildings inside the Ḥaram ash-Sharīf (the Noble Sanctuary), Jerusalem:

• Extending the Dome of the Rock terrace by 18 meters westward.^{[N 1]}
• Two water-distribution structures: as a donor, not as a patron (one who ordered them built):^[4]
  • 1210 or 1211: the Cistern of al-Muʿaẓẓam ʿĪsā, a water tank.^[5]
  • 1216 or 1217: the Shaʿlān Sebil, a sebil (fountain).^[6]
• 1217 or 1218: restoring the arched portico of al-Aqsa Mosque's façade,^[7][8] adding a pendentive dome over the main entrance.^[1]
• The Market of Knowledge (Sūq al-Maʿrifa):^[9] a Hanbalite prayer place in the southeast corner of the compound; demolished in the 19th century.^[1]
• 1213-14: ten cross-vaulted bays on piers in the central section of the compound's north portico (of the compound's northern wall).^[1]
• 1211-12: renovating the southeastern colonnade.^{[N 2][10]}
• New door leaves for the Superintendant's Gate and Remission Gate.^[1]

He founded these madrasas:

• 1207: an-Naḥawiyya Madrasa (Grammarians' Madrasa), which is on the extended terrace he made.^[1][11]
• 1209–1218: al-Muʿaẓẓamīya Madrasa (al-Hanafiyya Madrasa), Jerusalem: specialized in Hanafi jurisprudence (now al-Mujāhidīn Mosque).^[3]
• 1214: an-Nāṣiriyya (an-Nāṣriyya): on top of the Golden Gate; named after his uncle, Saladin (al-Malik an-Nāṣir). It no longer exists.^[12][13]
• al-Muʿaẓẓamīya Madrasa, aṣ-Ṣāliḥiyyah, Damascus: also his family mausoleum.^[14]

Furthermore, he modified the walls of Jerusalem and Damascus:

• 1202, 1203, 1212 and 1213-14: repairing Jerusalem's walls' fortifications.^[1]
• 1219: dismantling Jerusalem's walls to preemptively reduce Jerusalem's military strength in case of it falling into the hands of the Crusaders.^[1]
• 1226: rebuilding Damascus's city wall, likely also refortifying it with a tower at the southeastern corner.^[15]