The Al-Rifa'i Mosque () is a mosque located in Citadel Square, adjacent to the Citadel, in Islamic Cairo, Egypt. Its name is derived from the Ali Abu Shubbak who is buried in the mosque. It also serves as the royal mausoleum of Muhammad Ali's family. The building is located opposite the Mosque-Madrasa 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.
History
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. When developing its design, the architects of Al-Rifai Mosque tried to match the Sultan Hassan Mosque next to it in grandeur and height 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 Pahlavi 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 Pahlavi's son Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who died in Cairo in July 1980. He was buried in Cairo following the Iranian Revolution of 1979 which was spearheaded by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini .
Burials
Sufi mystics
- Ali Abu Shubbak al-Rifa'i, mystic of the Rifa'i order and grandson of Ahmad al-Rifa'i.
- Yahya al-Ansari, patron saint of Cairo.
Royal family of Egypt
- Hoshiyar Qadin, Walida Pasha
- Ismail Pasha of Egypt, Khedive
- Jeshm Afet Hanim, wife of Khedive Ismail
- Shehret Feza Hanim, wife of Khedive Ismail
- Jananiyar Hanim, wife of Khedive Ismail
- Prince Ali Jamal al-Din, son of Khedive Ismail
- Princess Zainab Hanim, daughter of Khedive Ismail
- Hussein Kamel of Egypt, Sultan
- Fuad I of Egypt, King
- Farouk of Egypt, King
- Fawzia of Egypt, daughter of Fuad I
Pahlavi dynasty
thumb|Tomb of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
- Reza Shah Pahlavi, founder of the Pahlavi dynasty. His body was removed in 1950 and reburied in Iran.
- Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, last Shah of Iran
See also
- Islam in Egypt
- List of mausoleums in Cairo
- List of mosques in Cairo
- Muhammad Ali Dynasty family tree