The Captivating Al-Hussein Bin Ali Mosque

    Approximately 30 minutes from Downtown and in the district of Khan Khalili and Old Cairo, it is easily accessible both as an individual traveler or in a Guided tour group.  

    The mosque was built during the reign of the Fatimids in the year 549 AH corresponding to the year 1154 AD under the supervision of Minister Al-Talei ', and the mosque includes 3 doors built in white marble overlooking Khan Al-Khalili, and another door next to the dome and known as the green door.

    The mosque was named based on the theories of some Egyptian historians that the head of Imam Hussein is buried in it. These theories say that with the beginning of the Crusades, the ruler of Egypt - the Fatimid Caliph - feared from the head that he might be harmed in its first place in the city of Ashkelon in Palestine, so he sent a request to come The head to Egypt, the head was carried to Egypt, he was buried in the mosque’s land, and the mosque was erected there after that.

    Still, there is a difference of views so far in determining the place of burial of Ras Al-Hussein among the general public, due to the difference of scenes that are called the presence of Ras Al-Hussein in each of them, where there are scenes that are said to have Ras Al-Hussein in Damascus, Karbala, and Cairo, and some historians have claimed his presence in other places Like Raqqa, Ashkelon, and Madinah, others suggested that the location of the head is unknown, so Al-Fadl bin Dukin denied to anyone who knows the location of the tomb of Al-Hussein, and Muhammad bin Jarir Al-Tabari mentioned that the place of his death was exempted from its effect until no one was able to determine where it is.

    A number of scholars of the Sunnis say that the head is buried in Al-Baqi ’city in Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah in Saudi Arabia. The scholar Muhammad bin Saad Al-Baghdadi says that Caliph Yazid bin Muawiya sent Ras Al-Hussein to Medina. The head was buried at the grave of his mother Fatima in Al-Baqi’s city, and it was also said and confirmed by Ibn Taymiyyah:« That scholars and historians have confirmed: that the head was carried to Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah, and buried with his brother "Al-Hassan" ».

    But, Among the Shiites, it is said that the head is buried with the body in Karbala, Iraq. and that "Ali" son of "Al-Hussein" took the body with him and returned him to Karbala forty days after his death, which is the day of Safar 20, which is what the forty-year anniversary informs. This was reported by the scholar Ibn Shahr Ashob and he said that this is well-known among the Shiites. It was said that the head was still in the closet of Yazid bin Muawiyah until he died, so he was taken from his closet and was buried inside the door of al-Faradis from the city of Damascus, and it was said in a wall in Damascus, and some of them said in Dar al-Imara, and some of them said in the public cemetery to bury the Muslims, and the tribe of Ibn al-Jawzi said that the head is in a mosque in Raqqa, on the bank of Euphrates River.

    A mausoleum was completed in 1154 especially in an effort to preserve the head. The Mosque was designed based on the Fatimid architectural,2a lot of changes happened to the mosque’s design, only the lower part of the south side gate called Bab Al-Akhdar remains original in the mosque today. A couple of years following, a minaret was added to the original gateway by Salih Nagm al-Din in 1237. The minaret has ornament carvings & interfering lines that create a design called arabesque, which is so popular in Islamic Architecture.  

    The various types of minarets in this mosque play a big role in representing the various powers that ruled the capital ”Cairo” and the way they Showed up their power through architecture. In 1874, Khedive Isma'il rebuilt the Al-Hussein mosque motivated by the Gothic Revival Architecture. His goal was to modernize Cairo, Khedive Isma'il redesigned a mosque with Italian Gothic style and Ottoman-style minarets. This fusion of various architectural styles was famous in Islamic architecture during the khedival time period, it was called “Islamic eclecticism”.

    Three canopy umbrellas are placed now in the courtyard of the mosque. This is the latest architectural addition to Al Hussein Mosque. It was added to protect those Worshipers who pray outdoors from the sun during the hot summer days in Cairo and from the rain during the winter. They are mechanically operated and follow the design of many Saudi mosques made from steel and Teflon. A lot of people come to the mosque to pray and visit the mausoleum on a regular basis. non-Muslims are not allowed into the building but the structure is still seen from the outside by visitors.