Мечеть Аль-Рифаи в Каире: История и Усыпальница Египетских Правителей

Mosque in Cairo, Egypt

Al Rifa'i Mosque (مسجد الرفاعي, transliterated also as Al Rifai, Al Refai, Al Refa'i, locally known as El Refa'i, and in English: the Refaai Mosque) is located in Citadel Square, adjacent to the Cairo Citadel. Its name is derived from the Ali Abu Shubbak who is buried in the mosque. Now, it is also the royal mausoleum of Muhammad Ali's family. The building is located opposite the Mosque Madrassa of Sultan Hassan, which dates from around 1361, and was architecturally conceived as a complement to the older structure as 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 original structure on the site was a small 12th century Fatimid era mosque, known as the Al Dakhirah Mosque. But later, the grandson of Ahmad al Rifa'i, Ali Abu Shubbak al Rifa'i, was buried within it, and the place was converted into a Zawiya for the Rifa'i tariqah. This Zawiya became known as the Al Bayda Zawiya, and it not only contained the tomb of Ali Abu Shubbak, but also included the tomb of another Sufi mystic, Yahya al Ansari. The present structure of the Al Rifa'i Mosque was constructed in two phases over the period between 1869 and 1912 when it was finally completed. even though they faced some difficulties that were criticized by archaeologists and which was remedied under the supervision of Max Herz. It also contains the royal mausoleum of the Khedive family, where Hoshiyar Qadim and her son Ismail Pasha, as well as other members of Egypt's royal family, including Sultan Hussein Kamel, Sultan and King Fuad I, and King Farouk, are buried. Khedive Tewfik and Khedive Abbas II Hilmi, however, are buried in Qubbat Afandina, a mausoleum built in 1894 in Cairo's Eastern Cemetery, together with other late members of the Muhammad Ali Dynasty. The mosque served briefly as the resting place of Reza Shah of Iran, who died in exile in the Union of South Africa in 1944, and was returned to Iran after World War II. Part of the burial chamber is also occupied by Reza Shah's son Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who died in Cairo in July 1980. He was buried in Cairo following the Iranian Revolution of 1979.