Muhammad Ali Mosque in the Citadel of Saladin in Cairo, Egypt | Facts & History of the construction of the Alabaster Mosque, the oldest and most important heritage Islamic mosques in the Ottoman style, and more.
The Alabaster Mosque is one of the ancient mosques in Cairo. It was built by Muhammad Ali Pasha. The mosque is modeled on the Ottoman style and is similar to the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. Learn about the mosque below.
Hurghada lovers Offer Luxury Hurghada to Pyramids Tours | El Gouna to Pyramids Tours | Makadi bay to Pyramids Tours | Sahl Hasheesh to Pyramids Tours | Soma bay to Pyramids Tours .
Muhammad Ali Mosque
When was the Muhammad Ali Mosque built?
The mosque was built from 1830 to 1848.
How many minarets are there in the mosque?
The number of minarets is two.
How tall is the minaret?
The height of the minaret reaches 84 meters.
How many domes are there in the mosque?
In the mosque there is a large dome in addition to four small domes and five half-domes.
What is the diameter and height of the dome?
The diameter of the dome is 21 meters, while the height of the dome is 52 meters.
A glimpse of the Muhammad Ali Mosque
• The name of the Alabaster Mosque is due to the frequent use of marble in its walls.
• The mosque was one of the important mosques in that period, so the successors of Muhammad Ali took care of it.
• The Caliphs completed the construction of the mosque, even adding some additions to it.
• The mosque was the seat of annual religious ceremonies.
• The mosque was restored during the reign of Abbas Hilmi Pasha I, as well as Tawfiq Pasha and others.
• It was the best and largest restoration of the mosque during the reign of Fuad I, who was keen to restore the mosque to its old glory.
• The mosque is now located in a part of the land of the Al-Ablaq Palace, which is the section located inside the Citadel of Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi.
• Next to it is the Al-Nasir Ibn Qalawun Mosque, and there are also a number of other mosques near it, such as the Al-Rifai Mosque and the Sultan Hassan Mosque.
Inside Muhammed Ali Mosque
• The French engineer Pascal Coast is the one who designed the castle in the year 1820 AD.
• The project was stopped and the project was given to the Turkish engineer Youssef Bushnak in 1830 AD.
• The engineer designed the mosque in the Ottoman style, and he summoned artists, including Effendi Musa, Hamad and Muallem Abram.
• There are copper windows inside the mosque, which were painted by Usta Romy, and Usta Hussein and Haj Ibrahim al-Anbaawi were also used.
• Among the Egyptian sculptors who were hired are Hussein Muharram and Ibrahim Hassan.
• Marble works were under the supervision of Egyptians under the contract of Al-Khawaja Simon.
• The gold and copper works inside the mosque were carried out by Bjorn.
The mosque of Mohammad Ali Pasha
The mosque is designed in the Ottoman style in the same style as the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul, the blue mosque of Turkey, the roofs of the mosque are decorated in the rococo and baroque style with the Islamic touch to preserve the religious identity of the mosque and consists of an open-air courtyard (Sahn) and from a large prayer hall you will see in the central dome a blue oval shape and for religious texts “In the name of God” “May God bless” repeated in a unique way with red with Islamic decorations. You will see the spherical triangle with the names of the first four Khalifes written “Abu Bakr, Omar, Osman and Ali” located in an area between the dome and the half-domes, as well as the text “No god but God, Mohammad, is the Messenger of God”, written on the half-dome of the mihrab.
Inside the mosque you will see a pulpit, a green wooden pulpit made during the reign of Sultan Mohammad Ali or the smallest stone pulpit under King Farouk in 1939 AD. The reason for the construction of a platform in the mosque of Mohammad Ali is that the large pulpit is far from the place of the mihrab or the place of the mihrab of prayer, the imam of the time bypassed the neck of the faithful, until the microphone was invented
The stone pulpit to solve the problem and diffuse the sound in the square significantly.
The Mosque of Mohammad Ali Pasha from the inside:
The prayer mihrab in the mosque was built from alabaster stone and it is painted with 23 carat gold in the form of the rays of the sun coming out of the verse “We can see the volatility of your face in the sky, see a Qibla that is satisfying for you, direct yourself to pray towards the Great Mosque (Mecca) ) ». The mosque has 3 doors, with one door leading to the open plaque and two to the palace, and in the middle of the plaque you will see unique floral motifs in the form of a small eight-shaped dome topped by a dome the size of a larger shelf based on 8 high-quality marble columns.
The prayer room is designed square in shape and above it is a large dome of 21 meters in diameter at a height of 5 meters, carrying the dome 4 square supports, as well as the antiques of the dome on four halves so that each corner of the square covers another small dome.
Located in the southwest corner of the house of prayer, where there is a very luxurious copper compartment surrounding the marble tomb, you will see separate Quranic verses of sorat on the tomb, as well as a tomb above the tombstone to indicate that the deceased is from the Turkish ruling family and written on it, « God is with those who have feared him and those who are good. »
Sultan Muhammad Ali Pasha recommended that no family members be buried there, and special family cemeteries were taken from the al-Rifai Mosque, in the same way that Sultan Mohammad Ali was buried at the bottom of the marble structure 2 meters underground. On the west side, you will see a large Sahn in the copper clock tower with the bronze chandelier, which King Louis Philippe offered to Sultan Mohammad Ali Pasha the copper clock tower in 1845 AD in exchange for the Egyptian obelisk, which is now transported to the Place de la Concorde in France for King Ramses II of the Luxor Temple.
At the western end you will find two Ottoman-style minarets that look like an 84-meter-high pencil, where you can climb through the minarets and private corridors.
The history of the construction of the Muhammad Ali Pasha Mosque
The mosque is located inside the citadel of Salah al-Din al-Ayoubi, and this mosque is the most beautiful facility built by Mohammad Ali Pasha.
The design of the mosque belongs to the Turkish engineer Yusuf Bashnak, to develop the design of the mosque, citing the design of the Sultan Ahmet Mosque in Istanbul, including the sahn and mosaic with some minor modifications.
Construction began in 1246 Ah (1830 AD), and the work continued uninterrupted until his death in 1265 Ah (1848 AD), where he was buried and then ordered to complete his decorations by his successor Abbas Pasha. It is an architectural masterpiece, the mosque is built on a plan of a rectangular shape divided into two parts, the first is the eastern section, the house of prayer and the western section, the sahn, which is mediated by an ablution fountain. Each section has two opposite doors, that is, the mosque has four doors.
From the door to the middle of the dike of the mosque we enter the sahn, a large open-air courtyard of about 53×54 meters under which a reservoir is surrounded by four sides of square shape, monted on marble columns with small domes engraved from the inside and covered from the outside with ball panels with copper beds.
The Mosque of Mohammed Ali Pasha is considered a monument of the most important Islamic tourist heritage in Egypt its walls are covered with alabaster Egyptian marble from the inside and outside of one of the most important archaeological mosques, and it occupies an important place in the hearts of Egyptians.
During your visit to the Mohammad Ali Pasha Mosque, you will be able to take many magnificent photos, with magnificent historical buildings, representing the beauty of Ottoman Islamic architecture.
Information about how to visit the mosque:
Visit dates Mohammed Ali Pasha Mosque: from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Ticket prices: Entrance fees start at EGP 5 during the day, during the night the ticket price is 60 pounds, and the castle offers family tickets for 4 people at the price of 150 pounds, although prices are uniform for Egyptians and foreigners.
About Muhammad Ali Pasha
• Muhammad Ali Pasha was born in the year 1182 AH in the city of Kola, which is located in Macedonia.
• Muhammad Ali’s father is Ibrahim Agha, who died when Muhammad Ali was young, and his mother died after that and he became an orphan.
• Al-Shorbaji Ismail is the one who took over after his parents’ death, and Al-Shorbaji is a friend of his father Ibrahim Agha.
• Al-Sharbaji included Muhammad Ali in the recruitment process, and here courage and chivalry appeared on Muhammad Ali.
• Muhammad Ali Bakhtiyar Al-Shorbagy married a woman named Amina Hanim, and she bore him Ibrahim, Ismail, Toson and two daughters.
• Muhammad Ali worked in commerce in 1215 AH.
• Muhammad Ali’s life changed when he was chosen to join a military force of 300 Albanian soldiers and he was the vice president.
• The Ottoman Empire decided to send that military force to Egypt in order to expel the French from it.
• The head of the battalion was the son of the ruler and decided to return home, leaving the battalion, and Muhammad Ali became its head after that.
• Muhammad Ali led the battalion to participate in the battle of Abu Qir and was victorious in it.
• He also participated in the Rahmaniya attack, and the French campaign failed in the face of Muhammad Ali’s attacks and withdrew from Egypt.
• Muhammad Ali was promoted to the rank of major general and was appointed commander of 4,000 Albanian soldiers.
• The Ottoman governor found that Muhammad Ali’s influence increased, especially among the soldiers, and tried to plot against him.
• Muhammad Ali preceded the governor and was able to ally with Othman Bey Al-Bardisi, one of the leaders of the Mamluks, who was able to remove him in 1803 AD.
• Muhammad Ali caused strife between the leaders of the Mamluks and was able to seize Egypt after he got rid of Khorshid Pasha, who tried to get rid of him and sent him to Jeddah.
A firman was issued by the Sublime Porte to isolate Muhammad Ali from the state of Egypt and take over the state of Thessaloniki after many conflicts between him and the Mamluks.
• Scholars and supervisors were sent to the Sultan to court and recommend Muhammad Ali.
• Muhammad Ali was able to expel the Frazer campaign from Egypt in 1807 AD, after Al-Bardisi and Al-Alfi died.
The price of entry ticket
The ticket price is 60 Egyptian pounds for Egyptians and foreigners in the evening.
The ticket price is 10 pounds for Egyptians during the morning.
There are family tickets at a price of 150 EGP for 4 people only.
opening hours
Daily from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm.
