Al-Sayyida Nafisa Mosque

Coordinates: 30°01′21″N 31°15′08″E / 30.022499°N 31.252136°E / 30.022499; 31.252136
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Al-Sayeda Nafeesah Mosque
)
Al-Sayyida Nafisa Mosque
مسجد السيدة نفيسة
Religion
AffiliationIslam
RegionMiddle East
StatusActive
Location
LocationCairo, Egypt
Architecture
Typemosque
StyleIslamic
Specifications
Dome(s)1
Minaret(s)1

The al-Sayyida Nafisa Mosque is a

Islamic saint and member of the family of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The mosque contains her mausoleum, also known as a mashhad. She was the great-granddaughter of Hasan, one of the Prophet Muhammad's two grandsons.[1] Along with the necropolis around it, the mosque is listed as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Historic Cairo.[2]

Sayyida Nafisa

Further information: Sayyida Nafisa

Sayyida Nafisa is considered holy as a member of the

Qur'an by heart.[4] Before she died, she reportedly dug her own grave and sat in it while she recited the whole of the Qur’an 190 times, saying "Rahma" ("mercy") with her last gasp.[4] After her death, the people of al-Fustat begged her husband not to take her body back to Medina, but rather to bury it in al-Fustat because of her baraka, or her blessing and grace from God.[5]

History of the mosque

Abbasid era.[citation needed] Cerca 1089, Badr al-Jamali began renovations by restoring a gate entrance to the mosque,[5] Badr also restored the Mashhad of Sayyida Nafisa with an inscription that designated his son as co-initiators in the restoration, however, the present Mashhad was built much later on in the Ottoman period.[5] Badr restored the shrine of Sayyida Nafisa in 1098 — of the fifty two extant foundation inscriptions of the Fatimid period, twenty bear the name of Badr who was the Armenian governor of ‘Akka (he was also a wazir and commander in chief of the Fatimid army) and was summoned to Cairo by the Fatimid caliph al-Mustansir in 1074 after a famine.[6] Badr was the first ruler of the Fatimid state to set up a public vault for ‘Alid saints, and Sayyida Nafisa was the first ‘Alid officially honored by Badr al-Jamali, supposedly because she could represent conciliation at a popular level of both the Shii rulers and the Sunni population within the Fatimids.[5]

There were later renovations by the Fatimids and the Abbasids in 1171.

caliph Mustansir
and his titles.

In 1138, Caliph al Hafiz renewed the dome over the grave and ordered a marble lining for the mihrab.[5] Surviving woodwork from the Mashhad includes the top half of a wooden screen filling in the shape on an arch. The arch is made up of panels of inscription with naskh characters, which did not appear on monuments in Egypt until the Ayyubid period, indicating that there were renovations in the 12th and 13th centuries. Also on the arch, there is an inscription in Kufic lettering, easily read as 33:33 of the Quran, stating, “O People of the House, God only desires to put away from your abomination and with cleansing to cleanse you.”[5]

The mausoleum was renewed in the Ottoman era during the reign of Prince Abd al-Rahman Katkhuda, which he built the shrine on the form existing until today. There are entrances for male and female, and the entrances were renovated in the modern era with marbles and extravagant carpets. Inside the mosque, there exists a corridor which leads to the Sharif's room, and paintings and poems of praise concerning the Ahl al-Bayt are drawn and written over the corridor.

The present mosque dates to 1897, ordered by ‘Abbas II when the mosque rebuilt by ‘Abd al-Rahman Katkhuda in the eighteenth century was damaged by fire,[5] However, in the late 1980s, a whole new extension wing was attached to the mosque in order to serve as a center for Quranic and religious instruction.[5]

A new zarih over the tomb was inaugurated during the visit of the leader of the Dawoodi Bohras in June 2021.

In the late summer of 2023, the Mosque underwent a controversial renovation sponsored by the Indian Bohra community. The interior had previously held a Mamluk aesthetic but that has been covered with Asian styled marble.[8] Much of the interior woodwork was moved to the mausoleum of Ibn Ataa Al-Sakandary during the renovation.[9] Prince Abdel-Rahman Katkhoda created two different doors for men and women. Additionally he wrote in gold, “The throne of truth and secrets, the tomb of Nafisa, daughter of the source of all lights. Hussein, son of Zaid, son of Hussein, son of Imam Ali, the cousin of the Prophet, the chosen one.”[9]

Location

Sayyida Nafisa Mosque is located at the border between

Muhammad ibn Jafar al-Sadiq, and Sayyida 'Atikah, believed to be an aunt of Muhammad.[1] This necropolis was originally built in the period of the Fatimids, when many commemorative mosques and Mashhads were constructed to honor religious subjects that were holy to the entire community, rather than a singular person. Most of these tombs and shrines were sacred to the memory of the Prophet’s family, including Sayyida Nafisa.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^
    S2CID 248850625
    .
  2. ISBN 978-9955-28-177-1
    .
  3. S2CID 143665392
    .
  4. ^
    JSTOR 1523093
    .
  5. ^
    ISSN 0732-2992
    .
  6. S2CID 161339719
    .
  7. S2CID 214706391
    .
  8. S2CID 240330430
    .
  9. ^
    doi:10.31219/osf.io/h736a
    . Retrieved 2023-12-08.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Al-Sayeda Nafeesah Mosque.

30°01′21″N 31°15′08″E / 30.022499°N 31.252136°E / 30.022499; 31.252136

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