Al-Rifa'i Mosque

The Al- Rifa'i Mosque (Arabic مسجد الرفاعى ) located in Cairo in Midan al - Qal'a below the citadel. It is located immediately adjacent to the Sultan Hasan Mosque, which was built around 1361 and is architecturally aligned with this. This was part of a wider campaign by the Egyptian ruler of the 19th century, with the former wanted to build this one hand to the golden age of Egyptian Islamic history and on the other hand wanted to modernize the city. The mosque was built in the vicinity of two large public squares and boulevards in the European style.

The Al- Rifa'i Mosque was 1869-1912, when it was finished, built in two phases. It was originally from Khushyar Hanin, the mother of the Khedive ( Viceroy ) Ismail Pasha commissioned to replace the existing Zawiya ( shrine ) of the medieval Islamic mystic Abu Ali al - Rifa'i Shibbak or expand. The shrine was a place of pilgrimage for the local population, the mystical healing powers were attributed. Kushayer turned a building with dual purpose, either a need for a home for the Sufis, on the other hand, a mausoleum for the Egyptian royal family. During construction changed architect, appearance and purpose of the building.

The original architect was Husayn Fahmi Pasha al - Mi'mar, a distant cousin of the dynasty of Muhammad Ali Pasha. He died during the first phase and the construction was stopped after Ismail Pasha in 1879 had been forced to abdicate. Khushayar Hanim died 1885. Work continued until 1905 under the Khedive Abbas Hilmi II. Were supervising the work of the Austrian architect Max Herz, head of the Committee for the Conservation of Arab Monuments in Cairo.

The building, including dome and minaret, is a mixture of styles from the time of the Mamluks. The building contains a large prayer hall as well as the shrines of al Rifa'i and the local saints, Ali Abi- Shubbak and Yahya al - Ansari.

The mosque is also the tomb of Khushyar Hanim and her son Ismail Pasha, and numerous other members of the royal family, including King Farouk, whose mortal remains were brought here after his death. Briefly, the mosque was also the last resting place of Reza Shah Pahlavi in 1944, died in exile in South Africa and was brought back to the Second World War in Iran. Today there is the grave of his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who died in 1980 in Cairo in exile.