ar-Rifa'i mosque
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The ar-Rifa'i mosque ( Arabic مسجد الرفاعى, DMG Masǧid ar-Rifāʿī ) is located in Cairo in Midan al-Qal'a below the citadel. It is located right next to the Sultan Hasan Mosque , which was built around 1361, and is architecturally aligned with it. This was part of a large-scale campaign by the Egyptian rulers of the 19th century, with which they wanted to build on the splendor of earlier times in Egyptian-Islamic history and to modernize the city. The mosque was built near two large public squares and boulevards in a European style.
The ar-Rifa'i Mosque was built in two phases between 1869 and 1912. Originally it was commissioned by Khushyar Hanin, mother of the Khedive (viceroy) Ismail Pasha , to replace or replace the existing zawiya (shrine) of the medieval Islamic mystic Ali Abu Shibbak ar-Rifa'i, a grandson of Ahmed Rifai to expand. The shrine was a place of pilgrimage for the local population, to which mystical healing powers were ascribed. Kushayer envisioned a building with a dual purpose, on the one hand a house for the Sufis and on the other hand a mausoleum for the Egyptian royal family. During the construction, the architect, appearance and purpose of the building changed.
The original architect was Husayn Fahmi Pasha al-Mi'mar, a distant cousin of the Muhammad Ali Pasha dynasty . He died during the first phase of construction and construction was stopped after Ismail Pasha had to abdicate in 1879. Khushayar Hanim died in 1885. The work was not continued until 1905 under the Khedive Abbas Hilmi II . The work was supervised by the Austrian architect Max Herz, head of the Committee for the Conservation of Arab Monuments in Cairo.
The building, including the dome and minaret, is a mix of different styles from the Mamluk period . The building contains a large prayer hall as well as the shrines of ar-Rifa'i and the local saints Ali Abu Shibbak and Yahya al-Ansari.
The mosque is still the burial place of Chushyar Hanim and her son Ismail Pasha, as well as numerous other members of the royal family, including King Faruq , whose remains were transferred here after his death. For a short time, the mosque was also the final resting place of Reza Shah Pahlavi , who died in exile in South Africa in 1944 and was brought back to Iran after the Second World War. Today there is the grave of his son Mohammad Reza Pahlavi , who died in exile in Cairo in 1980.
Trivia
The southeast view of the Ar Rifa'i Mosque with the two minarets and the dome in between is shown on the front of the Egyptian 10 pound banknote.
Web links
Coordinates: 30 ° 1 ′ 58.3 ″ N , 31 ° 15 ′ 25.2 ″ E