WIP · World in Pocket

Mausoleum of Imam al-Shafi'i

Cairo Governorate, XX

Mausoleum of Imam al-Shafi'i

The Mausoleum of Imam al-Shafi'i (Arabic: قبة الإمام الشافعي) is a mausoleum dedicated to al-Shafi'i, founder of the homonymous school (madhhab) of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence. Located at the Imam Shafi'i Street in the City of the Dead, Cairo, the mausoleum is a hallmark of Ayyubid style architectur

e and historical significance. Imam al-Shafi'i travelled to Cairo in 813, where he taught at the Mosque of Amr ibn al-As, before his death in 819. He was buried by his child Ibn Abdulhakim in the place of turbah in the City of the Dead. Later, the Ayyubid sultan Salah ad-Din built a turbah and madrasa for Shafi'i in 1176, marking the first establishment on his grave. In 1178, a wooden coffin was created with decorations of Islamic geometric patterns and inscriptions of the Qur'anic verses and the life of Shafi'i in Kufic and Ayyub scripts. The decorations were created by Abid al-Najar. In 1211, after the death of mother of the Ayyub Sultan al-Kamil, the sultan built a mausoleum for her near the site, and simultaneously built a dome and a building which covers the entire area as well as the grave of al-Shafi'i. This had become the current structure, consisted of wooden dome, and later added...

Listen to the audio guide for Mausoleum of Imam al-Shafi'i Free on WIP — starts by itself when you arrive, even with the screen off

Nearby