Al-Rifa'i Mosque — Attraction in Cairo

The two Mosques stand out due to their immense scale, grand but not oppressive yet monumental..The Rifai Mosque is pseudo-Mamluk, built between 1869 and 1912 for Princess Khushyar, the mother of Khedive Ismail. With the royal entrance now closed, you enter on the side facing Sultan Hassan. Straight ahead in a sandalwood enclosure lies the tomb of Shiekh Ali al-Rifai, founder or the Rifai tariqa of dervishes, whose moulid occurs during Gumad el-Tani. Off to your lest are mashrabiya-screened tombs of King Fouad, his mother, the last Shah of Iran and King Farouk of Egypt. The monumental sanctuary ( on the left) is impressive, but after Ismail’s chief eunuch had overseen its 44 columns, 19 types of marble and 18 window grilles: what it lacks is the power of simplicity embodied by the mosques of Ibn Tulun and Sultan Hassan.

مسجد الرفاعي هو أحد المساجد الأثريّة الشهيرة بالقاهرة. أمرت ببنائه خوشيار هانم والدة الخديوي إسماعيل سنة 1286هـ/1869م، وعهدت إلى حسين باشا فهمي بتنفيذ المشروع. في سنة 1298هـ/1880م أُوقفت عمارة المسجد، ثم توفيت خوشيار هانم سنة 1303هـ/1885م، وظل مشروع البناء متوقفاً نحو 25 عاماً حتى عهد الخديوي عباس حلمي الثاني سنة 1905 إلى أحمد خيري باشا بإتمام المسجد فكلف المهندس هرتس باشا بإكمال البناء، فأتمه في سنة 1329هـ/1911م، وافتتح المسجد للصلاة في غرة شهر المحرم سنة 1330هـ/1912م. يوجد بالمسجد مقبرتي الشيخان علي أبي شباك ويحيى الأنصاري، وكذلك مقابر الأسرة الملكية التي يرقد بها الخديوي إسماعيل وأمه خوشيار هانم منشئة المسجد وزوجاته وأولاده، والسلطان حسين كامل وزوجته، والملك فؤاد الأول، والملك فاروق الأول.

كان موقع المسجد قديماً "زاوية الرفاعي" المدفون بها الشيخ علي أبي شباك الرفاعي والموجود قبره بالمسجد حتى الآن، ومنه اتخذ المسجد اسمه، إلا أنه بعد إنشاء المسجد نُسبة التسمية إلى الشيخ العارف بالله السيد أحمد الرفاعي المدفون بالعراق، وجد أحمد الصياد والد الشيخ علي أبي شباك. يقع المسجد حالياً بميدان صلاح الدين بحي الخليفة التابع للمنطقة الجنوبية بالقاهرة، وبجواره عدة مساجد أثرية تتمثل في مسجد السلطان حسن، مسجد المحمودية، مسجد قاني باي الرماح، مسجد جوهر اللالا، بالإضافة إلى مسجد محمد علي، ومسجد الناصر قلاوون بقلعة صلاح الدين،...

Beautiful mosque. Must visit. I absolutely enjoyed it.

History from the plaque in front if the mosque- Al-Rifai Mosque The mosque gets its name from imam Ahmad al Rifai who founded the Rifa'i tariga (Sufi path). The original structure was a Fatimid mosque, which is located next to Zawiyat contains a number of mausoleums, It is known as the Zawiyat al Rifai, Although he was not buried in Egypt, this name stuck to the Zawiyat first, and then to the mosque later. In 1286 AH/ 1869 Khushyar Hanem commissioned the current design of the mosque and put in charge of the construction the architect Hussein Pasha Fahmi that it serve as a burial for her and the royal family. The construction has stopped for years until it was completed in the region of Khedive Abbas Helmi I in 1330Ah\ 1912 AD. Al Rifa'i Mosque was built to emulate the mosque and madrasa of Sultan Hasan. The mosque's design is unique in many respects, its large entrances were surrounded by ornamented stone and marble columns as well as the ornate ceilings. A part of the mosque was dedicated for prayer in the eastern wall, which contains a mihrab covered with colored marble, and next to it a wooden pulpit inlaid with ivory and ebony. As for the other part of the mosque was used as a burial for the Muhammad Ali Dynasty. Khedive Ismail, four of his sons, and three of his wives were buried there, as was his mother Khushyar Hanem. Separate burials were reserved for Sultan Hussein Kamel son of Ismail, King Fouad I, and King Farouk I. Reza Pahlavi, former Shah of Iran, was buried there for a while before being moved to his country at the end of the Second World War. His son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran remains buried in...

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 Hoshiyar Qadin, the mother of the 19th century Khedive Isma'il Pasha to expand and replace the preexisting zawiya (shrine) of the medieval Islamic saint Ahmed al-Rifa'i. The zawiya was a pilgrimage site for locals who believed that the tomb had mystical healing properties. Hoshiyar envisioned a dual purpose for the new structure as a house for Sufi relics and a mausoleum for the royal family of Egypt. Over the course of its construction the architect, design, and purpose were changed. The original architect was Hussein Fahri Pasha, a distant cousin in the dynasty founded by Muhammad Ali of Egypt in 1803. He died during the first phase of construction, and work was halted after Khedive Isma'il Pasha abdicated in 1880. Hoshiyar Qadin herself died in 1885, and work was not resumed until 1905 when the Khedive, Abbas II of Egypt, ordered its completion. Work was supervised by the Hungarian architect Max Herz, head of the Committee 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 its dome and minaret. The building contains a large prayer hall as well as the shrines of al-Rifa'i and two other local saOints, Ali Abi-Shubbak and Yahya al-Ansari.

The building itself is a melange of styles taken primarily from the Mamluk period of Egyptian history, including its dome and minaret. The building contains a large prayer hall as well as the shrines of al-Rifa'i and two other local saints, Ali Abi-Shubbak and...