The Raghab prayer house, or hilwa, is located in a spectacular setting: surrounded by olive groves, high above Yirka, a Druze town of some 12,500 in the Western Upper Galilee Mountains, offering a breathtaking view of the Mediterranean coast from Haifa to Acre.
A short road from the town center leads through a residential neighborhood to the mountain, known to the locals as Jebel (Mount) Raghab. The prayer house, with its delicately arched façade now undergoing restoration, was built in 1925 by Sheikh Mohammad Mo’adi of Yirka as a gift to the community. His grandson, Sheikh Ali Jamila, still administers the site, which is also a residential college of Druze religious studies.
Visitors will find a sign requesting they not enter the compound itself, but the view alone is worth the drive.
The road to the Raghab prayer house, signposted in English, starts about 250 yards east of the town center.