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The Killing of Mawdud, Lord of Mosul, in the Mosque of Damascus

قتل مودود صاحب الموصل بجامع دمشق

c. 1113 CE · 507 AH

Damascus

In 507 Mawdud, lord of Mosul, marched against the Frankish king of Jerusalem; after a great battle he returned to Damascus and was praying Jumu'a in the mosque when a Batini leapt on him — he died the same day. The Frankish king wrote Damascus's lord: 'a nation that kills its chief, on its feast-day, in its house of worship, deserves that God blot it out' 1.

Depth

At a glance

Era
Abbasid Fragmentation
Region
Levant & Iraq
Review
Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it

In time

1100111011201130 c.
The Buyid, Fatimid and Seljuk Era · The Crusades, Ayyubids and Mamluks

In space

Damascus

Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph

Overview

In 507 AH Mawdud, lord of Mosul, was killed in the great mosque of Damascus by an Batini assassin. 1

Events

Mawdud had brought an army to fight the king of the Franks at Jerusalem, and a battle took place between them. Then he returned to Damascus, and while he was praying the Friday prayer in the mosque, a Batini sprang at him and wounded him, and he died the same day. 1

Al-Suyuti relates that the king of the Franks wrote to the lord of Damascus that a people had killed their chief on their festival day, in the house of their worship, and that God should destroy them. 1

Connections

Explore the connections

Had participant
مودود صاحب الموصل
Occurred at
Damascus

People and things also explored

The Assassination of Mawdud, Lord of Mosul, in the Great Mosque of Damascus, 507· the Cave of Qasyun (Jibril's Cave)· Qasr Hiraql / Qasr Shams al-Muluk· The Umayyad Mosque of Damascus· The Fitna of the Hafiz Abd al-Ghani in Damascus in 595· al-Afdal besieges Damascus and turns back· al-Adil's seizure of Damascus· al-Ghazali's arrival in Damascus as an ascetic, in 488

Sources

  1. Tarikh al-Khulafa — al-Suyuti (Dar al-Minhaj edition) , p. 661
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The Killing of Mawdud, Lord of Mosul, in the Mosque of Damascus”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/mawdud-assassination-507/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-22.

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The Assassination of Mawdud, Lord of Mosul, in the Great Mosque of Damascus, 507

In 507 Mawdud lord of Mosul marched against the Frankish king and fought a great battle, then returned to Damascus where, at Friday prayer in the mosque, a Batini sprang on him, wounded him, and he died that day; the Frankish king wrote Damascus's lord wondering at a nation that killed its champion on its feast day in its house of worship.