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Introduction

The Mausoleum of Al-Shafi'i in Cairo

The Mausoleum of Imam al-Shafi’i (Arabic: قبة الإمام الشافعي ‎) is a mausoleum dedicated to Imam Al-Shafi’i, one of the four Sunni Imams who founded the Shafi’i Sunni Islamic school of jurisprudence. Located at the Imam Shafi’i Street in the City of the Dead, Cairo, the mausoleum is a hallmark of Ayyubid style architecture 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 muqarnas and marble decorations furnished by the Mamluk Sultan Qaitbay in 1480. The building was restored during the era of the Mamluk Sultan al-Ghuri and the Ottoman wali Ali Bey al-Kabir in 1772 who added colored decorations for the inner wall, muqarnas and dome.

History

Abū ʿAbdillāh Muḥammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāfiʿī was a Sunni theologian, writer, scholar, and Imam who was one of the first main contributors towards the Islamic principles of jurisprudence, Uṣūl al-fiqh. He founded his own Shafi’i madhhab or school of fiqh in Cairo where he taught his students his life’s work until his death in 819 in Egypt. Al-Shafi’i was buried in the tomb in the cemetery of Ibn ‘Abd al-Hakam in the al-Qarafa al-Sughra (City of the Dead) in Cairo.

Example of wooden Islamic cenotaph

Nearly four hundred years after the Imam’s death, the new Ayyubid sultan, Salah al-Din or Saladin, established a Sunni madrasa, an educational institution, in the cemetery near the tomb of Imam al-Shafi’i and commissioned a magnificent wooden cenotaph intricately carved of teak over the grave of Imam al-Shafi’i in 1178. The cenotaph contains geometrically ornamented panels carved into the wood along with both Kufic and Ayyubid Naskhi inscriptions of the Qur’anic verses, accounts from the Imam’s life, and the woodwork craftsman’s name ‘Ubayd ibn Ma’ali al-Najjar. The construction and sponsorship of both the madrasa and the cenotaph were a part of the Ayyubid efforts to consolidate Sunnism after the fall of the Shi’i Fatimid Caliphate and abolish all traces of Shi’ism in Egypt. Another motivation behind the construction of the madrasa near the grave of a Sunni jurist wasn’t only towards the revival of Sunnism but also a reflection of an intra-Sunni conflict between Shafi’i Asharites and the Hanbalis at the time.

In 1211, after the death of his late mother, the Ayyub Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil erected a mausoleum near the burial site of both al-Shafi’i and his mother. The Sultan also adorned the top of the mausoleum with a large qubba or dome. The dome itself is made from wood and was one of the largest domes constructed during its time, second only to the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. The mausoleum itself is considered to be the largest freestanding tomb in Egypt. Some scholars argue that this commemorative and pious monument was built with the purpose of increasing the Sultan al-Kamil’s dynastic prestige as a place of entombment for himself and his family.

Description

The dome or qubba on top of the Mausoleum of Imam Al-Shafi'i

Exterior

The mausoleum’s base is a 15-meter stone square that supports a wooden dome topped with lead. Construction of the dome was completed under the fourth Ayyubid Sultan of Egypt, Al-Malik al-Kamil (1218-38). The dome is topped with a copper boat that is said to be filled with birdseed, an architectural feature carried over from early Fatimid dynasty. The Shafi’i dome has a vertical, rounded shape, unlike earlier Fatimid-era domes, which took on more pointed forms. Some elements of the exterior of the building is in Andalusian style, with extensive stucco decoration, carved colonnettes, as well as geometric patterns and tessellations that decorate the exterior.

Interior

The original interior of the Mausoleum consists of a wooden frieze cenotaph decorated with geometric patterns along the walls, as well as wooden beams that would have supported lamps. This frieze was added by Salah-al Din, founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, in 1178. Made by the woodworker Ubayd al-Najjar Ibn Ma’ali, the frieze contains inscriptions in both Kufic and Naskhi script, and is dated dated 574 Hijra; the cenotaph features Ayubbid-style use of tessellations and geometric shapes in its design.

Renovations on the mausoleum were done in the late fifteenth century under Sultan Qaytbay, which included a painted interior dome and the addition of colored marble on the lower wall panels. Qaytbay also restored the building’s three prayer niches as well, adding Ayyubid-style muquarnas on the dome’s interior.

Imam Al-Shafi'i

Imam al-Shafi’i was born in Gaza in 150 AH/769 AD. His father died when he was very young and his mother consequently moved them to Mecca, where his father’ s tribe was from. He began his education in Mecca by sitting in on the lectures of many scholars. It is said that he had memorized the entire Quran by age seven and the entire Muwatta of Imam Malik by age ten. He spent time among the Hazeel tribe outside of Mecca to learn Arabic language and poetry, where he also gained skill in archery and horse riding.

Around the age of 20, al-Shafi’i left Mecca for Medina to study religion under the great Imam Malik. It was very difficult to get a position learning from Imam Malik at the time, so the governor of Mecca wrote al-Shafi’i a letter of recommendation. However it was through later demonstration of his speaking skills that al-Shafi’i would be admitted to Imam Malik’s school. He studied with Imam Malik for 10 years and learned from other great scholars of Medina while there.

Legacy

In 1211, three decades after the building’s initial construction, a dome was added to the tomb by Al-Malik al-Kamil ibn al-'Adil in remembrance of his mother. Most of the present structure was constructed under al-Kamil, though the wood dome and several decorative elements such as the muqarnas were the works of sultan Qaytbay. The complex was also altered by sultan Qaytbay with renovations on the outer layer of the dome and the addition of a fourth mihrab. Renovations continued to be made between 1501-16 by Sultan Qansuh al-Ghuri and again to the dome and ornamental carvings by governor, Ali Bek al-Kabir in 1772.

The most recent conservation initiative began in 2016 due to centuries of natural exposure and weathering. This work was funded by the US Ambassadors’ Fund for Cultural Preservation and mainly focused on the dome, though new lighting was installed as well as an updated drainage system. Architectural deterioration like cracks and damaged fixtures were also addressed during this time with major work on the building’s exterior and interior stucco and masonry.

References

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3. Creswell, MAE, vol. 2, 65; Robert Hillenbrand, Islamic Architecture (New York, 1994), 319; Caroline Williams, Islamic Monuments in Cairo (Cairo, 1993), 137.
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10. Tabikha, Kamal. "Dome of Cairo's Imam Al Shafi'i mosque reopened after restoration". The National. 2021.
11. Tarek Torky. "Mausoleum of Imam Shafi’i" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2021.
12. "Video: Watch restoration work of largest mausoleum dome in Egypt: Al-Imam Al-Shafie inaugurated on April 18". EgyptToday. 2021.
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14. Williams, Caroline, et al. Islamic Monuments in Cairo: The Practical Guide. 6th ed., The American University in Cairo Press, 2008.