Al-Rifa’i Mosque in Cairo, Egypt
Islamic Egypt History to establish the most important historical Islamic heritage mosques and facts about why Al-Rifai Mosque was named with this name, who is buried in the mosque, and what are the secrets of the presence of a cross and Quranic verses on the walls from the inside and more about the most famous Islamic Egypt Archaeological Sites.
Al-Rifai Mosque is one of the ancient mosques and Islamic Egyptian Antiquities and monuments in Cairo. It is located in the Citadel of Saladin Al-Ayyubi Square “Salah Al-Din Al-Ayyubi“, which is located in the Khalifa neighborhood, the most famous Old Cairo neighborhoods.
This mosque was established in more than one stage and was built according to Islamic architecture. Learn more information about the mosque below..
Al-Rifa’i Mosque Facts
Who is the founder of Al-Rifai Mosque?
Hoshyar Qadin, mother of Khedive Ismail Pasha, is the founder of the mosque..
When did the construction of Al-Rifai Mosque begin?
The mosque was built in two stages. The first stage began from 1869 AD to 1880 AD, and the second period began from 1906 AD to 1911 AD..
How big is Al-Rifai Mosque?
The area of the mosque is 6500 square meters and there are 1767 square meters. The mosque contains 2 minarets and 2 domes..
Information about Al-Rifai Mosque
The mosque was built by Engineer Hussein Pasha Fahmy, who began implementing it after an order from Hoshyar Qadin..
Hoshyar died in 1885 and the execution was suspended for 25 years..
During the reign of Abbas Hilmi II, specifically in 1905 AD, the engineer Hertz Pasha was commissioned to complete the construction process..
The construction of the mosque was completed in 1911 AD and it was opened in the month of Muharram of the year 1912 AD..
The mosque contains the tombs of Sheikh Ali Abi Shabak and Yahya Al-Ansari..
The mosque also contains the tombs of the royal family of Khedive Ismail, his mother and his children as well..
Sultan Hussein Kamel, his wife, and King Fouad were buried in the mosque, in addition to King Farouk I..
The reason for the name and a brief about Ahmed Al-Rifai
The name of the mosque is Sheikh Ahmed Al-Rifai.
Although the mosque bears the name of the Sheikh, the Sheikh’s grave is not in the mosque, but there is the body of Ali Abu Shabak, who is a descendant of Al-Rifai..
Sheikh Ahmed Al-Rifai was born an orphan in Iraq, specifically in the year 514 AH..
His uncle Mansour Al-Bataeihi took care of him.
The Sheikh migrated to Morocco due to the persecution of the Abbasids in the East and settled in Seville..
The Sheikh got married after settling down and had many children, and his grandson Yahya traveled to the Hijaz to perform the Hajj..
Sheikh Ahmed Al-Rifai received religion and memorized the Qur’an at a young age until the Sheikh left many books on religious sciences, monotheism, interpretation, and also books on hadith and jurisprudence..
The Sheikh was buried in his hometown, Umm Ubaida village, and was buried in his shrine..
Al-Rifai Mosque Engineer
The mosque was designed by engineer Hussein Pasha Fahmy, the son of Abdul Karim, the brother of Moharram Bey, the governor of Alexandria..
The engineer studied in the offices of Egypt and also entered the Sawari School, from which he traveled on a mission to France in 1844 AD, and at that time he joined the Egyptian Military School located in Paris..
The engineer returned after completing his studies during the reign of Abbas I, when he was 22 years old..
The architect Max Herz Pasha was then commissioned to build the mosque after a 25-year hiatus..
Max Herz was born in Romania and lived in Egypt until he joined the technical office of the Egyptian Ministry of Endowments..
History of Al-Rifai Mosque
The site of the mosque was previously partly occupied by Sultan Hassan School..
Hoshyar ordered the renovation of the Al-Rifai corner, and she even bought the surrounding areas and wanted to build a large mosque with graves for her family..
After the mosque was built to a height of two meters, construction was halted due to modifications that did not satisfy Hoshyar..
Hoshyar Hanem died after that and after 25 years during the reign of Abbas Hilmi II construction work started again.
The engineer was careful not to make too many changes so as not to cancel out the design features of Engineer Hussein Pasha the architect..
The engineer strengthened the walls and restored the damaged ones using masonry..
The engineer used gold imported from Istanbul and also inscriptions written by the calligrapher Abdullah Bey Zahdi..
Carpets made in Türkiye were used, and there are about 240 enamel-painted niches decorated with Quranic inscriptions..
The cost of construction until 1880 AD amounted to 500,000 pounds..
The graves in Al-Rifa’i Mosque
Sheikh Ali Abi Shabak Al-Rifai, in addition to the tomb of Sheikh Yahya Al-Ansari, which comes in the form of a simple room with a wooden coffin in the middle.
The tomb of Hoshyar Hanem is located next to the tomb of Khedive Ismail. The Khedive’s tomb is made of black, yellow, and white marble..
Khedive Ismail’s wife, Geshem Aft Hanem, is one of the Egyptian Tombs also located in the mosque, in addition to the famous Feza Hanem..
The tombs of Jamal al-Din, Ibrahim Hilmi, Zainab Hanem, and Tawhida Hanem, the sons of Khedive Ismail, are also located in the mosque..
There is also the tomb of Sultan Hussein Kamel and Sultana Melek Hasan Turan..
Al-Rifai Mosque
The most important mosques in the historical and archaeological Citadel of Saladin in Cairo, Egypt. The history of the construction of Al-Rifai Mosque, what are the secrets of its construction and the design of the architectural glory from the inside and outside, and more.
The mosque overlooks the Saladin Citadel Square, among the group of mosques in the Saladin Citadel, and Muhammad Ali Street, where there was the Al-Dhakhirah Mosque occupying an area of the mosque’s land, where there were the graves of the descendants of Imam Al-Rifai..
The story of the mosque’s construction goes back to Khushyar Hanem, the mother of Khedive Ismail, who vowed to build a mosque because of her son Ismail’s illness and the debt crisis that Egypt was going through at the time.
Fate willed that the financial crisis would pass peacefully in Egypt and her son Ismail would recover. The mosque was established in 1869 AD, but she died before it was completed in 1905 AD. Khedive Abbas then completed the construction in 1912 AD..
Al-Rifa’i Mosque is planned in a square shape and Ottoman style from the inside with an area of about 1767 meters, where you will find two rows of pillars with 4 attached columns and the pillars of the mosque are divided into 3 corridors.
The entrance was designated only for the entry of the ruling family and is currently a memorial. You will find a large warrior in the middle of the eastern wall, on either side of which are two columns of white and dark green marble.
In addition, the interior of the mihrab is decorated with a mosaic of fine marble and distinctive mother-of-pearl. Above the entrance is a strip of writing in the unique Thuluth script..
The qibla wall of Al-Rifai Mosque is the only one among the Egyptian mosques where the wall is topped with a muqarnas chest, in addition to a wooden pulpit inlaid with ivory and ebony in the Mamluk style with an inverted qulla, where the body of the qulla is characterized by tangent oval shapes and the decorations on the feather are star-shaped plates..
Al-Rifa’i Mosque Entry times
From 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Al-Rifa’i Mosque Entrance ticket price
The entrance ticket price for foreigners is 80 pounds and for students it is 40 pounds..
Free entry for Egyptians.
Note: Facts and secrets of the history will be added soon…
Hurghada Excursions Lovers, Best Travel Agency in Hurghada to provide daily tours to visit the Tourist attractions of Luxor by Hurghada to Luxor Tours and Hurghada to Pyramids Trips. Book online when you come to Hurghada, El Gouna, Sahl Hashish, Makadi Bay, Soma Bay.
