- Al Rifa'i Mosque
The Al-Rifa'i Mosque (Arabic: مسجد الرفاعى, transliterated also as Al-Rifai, Al-Refai, Al-Refa'i, and named in English the Royal Mosque), is located in
Cairo ,Egypt , in Midan al-Qal'a, adjacent to the CairoCitadel . The building is located opposite theMadrassa ofSultan Hassan , which dates from around 1361, and was architecturally conceived as a complement to the older structure. This was part of a vast campaign by the 19th century rulers of Egypt to both associate themselves with the perceived glory of earlier periods in Egypt's Islamic history and modernize the city. The mosque was constructed next to two large public squares and off of several European styleboulevards constructed around the same time.The Al-Rifa'i Mosque was constructed in two phases over the period between 1869 and 1912, when it was finally completed. It was originally commissioned by
Khushyar Hanim , the mother of the 19th centuryKhedive Isma'il Pasha to expand and replace the preexistingzawiya (shrine) of the medieval era Islamic saintAhmad al-Rifa'i . Thezawiya was a pilgrimage site for locals who believed that the tomb had mystical healing properties. Khushayer envisioned a dual purpose for the new structure as a house forsufi relics and amausoleum for the royal family of Egypt. Over the course of its construction the architect, design, and purpose were changed.The original architect was
Husayn Fahmi Pasha al-Mi'mar, a distant cousin in the dynasty founded by Muhammad Ali in 1803. He died during the first phase of construction, and work was halted afterKhedive Isma'il Pasha abdicated in 1880. Khushayar Hanim herself died in 1885, and work was not resumed until 1905 when theKhedive Abbas Hilmi II ordered its completion. Work was supervised by theAustria n architectMax Herz , head of theCommittee for the Conservation of Arab Monuments in Cairo .The building itself is a melange of styles taken primarily from the
Mamluk period of Egyptian history, including itsdome andminaret . The building contains a large prayer hall as well as the shrines of al-Rifa'i and two other local saints,Ali Abi-Shubbak andYahya al-Ansari .The mosque is the resting place of Khushyar Hanim and her son
Isma'il Pasha , as well as numerous other members of Egypt's royal family, including King Farouk, Egypt's last reigning king, whose body was interred here after his death inRome in 1965. The mosque served briefly as the resting place ofReza Shah Pahlavi ofIran , who died in exile inSouth Africa in 1944, and was returned toIran afterWorld War II . Part of the burial chamber is currently occupied by Reza Shah's sonMohammed Reza Pahlavi , who died inCairo in 1980.ee also
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Qala'un Mosque , the Mamluk royal mosque founded in 1318 in the Citadel of Cairo by the Sultan Al-Nasr Muhammad ibn Qala'un.
*Timeline of Islamic history
*Islamic architecture
*Islamic art
*List of mosques External links
* [http://archnet.org/library/sites/one-site.tcl?site_id=3476 Al-Rifa'i Mosque]
* [http://www.geocities.com/hazemsakr/royal/rifai.html The Royal Mosque - Al Rifai]
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