Mosque of ʿUmar Ibn al-Khattab
It is the oldest mosque in the city of Qalqilya; and the only one that remained until 1961 A.D. when the Mosque of Ali bin Abi Talib was established. In the first phase, the mosque consisted of two large arches. However, in the year 1263 AH, Sheikh Hassan Salih Khair al-Din Sabri expanded the mosque, and added three new iwans (arches) from the southern side of the mosque. This expansion was documented through a stone inscription installed in the mosque, in which the date of construction and some verses of poetry, were engraved on it with the date 1263 AH.In 1302 AH (1884 AD), the District Commissioner of Tulkarm District, Moharam Bek from Sidon, ordered the construction of a school in the northwestern part of the mosque. The village imam, Sheikh Muhammad Hassan Sabri, brother of Sheikh Saleh Sabri, urged the donors to complete this building, and they donated to establish the building.
A school for male students was constructed, and for this purpose, a Lebanese teacher named Abd al-Rahman Effendi Salam was asked to teach in that school; they said that he is from the well-known Salam family in Lebanon. He was followed in this mission by another Lebanese named Muhammad Effendi Sinno, who stayed for one year, succeeded by Sheikh Muhammad al-Awartani from Qalqilya, and stayed for seventeen years.
In the year 1942 A.D the mosque was expanded once again; the eastern door was added to the mosque, in addition to taps for ablution. A minaret was added at the northern entrance, and the mosque was expanded from the north side as well by adding two iwans to the mosque after buying the neighboring houses. Outdoor toilets were added to the mosque from the western side, separating it from the street mosque. It was removed later in the seventies of the last century.
Nevertheless, in 1956, the two old iwans (the two arches) were demolished because they were lower than the level of the modern building in the mosque, and the building was ancient. Then a new building was built of stone and cement, and the floor level of the building was unified to the same level. Also, the southwestern part was made.