The shrine of al-Majdhoub, about an hour’s walk from the village of Deir Ghassaneh, is among the most beautiful and evocative of Palestine’s rural shrines. Standing alone on the hillside, the shrine is an ideal place for a picnic, and commands views all the way across to the Mediterranean.
The Maqam (shrine) is situated on top of al-Thaher Mountain and lies opposite the Maqam of al-Khawass. The shrine itself is called al-Majdhoub (derived from the act of attraction to the divine), and which refers to a kind of spontaneous calling of the heart towards God, without struggle and sometime even without learning.
Al-Majdhoub refers to a Sufi man who “justice” enticed him to the mystical divine presence. The place where the Maqam was built, namely al-Thaher Mountain is referred to as Rijal Sufa, or Rijal Sofa or Rijal Shufa. The name Sufa is more comprehensive than al-Majdhoub and Rijal Sufa (the men of Sufa) are the guardians buried in the shrine.
