Sultan Hassan’s Mosque
The Sultan Hassan’s Mosque is the secret of the strangest Islamic culture in Islamic history and represented Islamic art and how it lasted during the Mamalek period and is considered the largest and most extraordinary mosque that was built in Islam.
Discover with us how the mosque of Sultan Hassan was built and how it could be a very famous and existing Islamic monument and tells the ancient Islamic history in Egypt.
The Mosque-Madrasa (school) of Sultan Hassan (Sultan Hassan) is a monumental mosque located in the historic district of Cairo, Egypt. This mosque was built between 1356 and 1363, at the time of the Mamluks, commissioned by the Sultan of the same name: El-Nasser Hassan.
The mosque was particularly important because of its enormous size and innovative architectural components and is still today considered one of the most impressive historical monuments in Cairo.
It is not only of extreme value for Cairo or Egypt, but it is one of the most important monuments in the whole Islamic world, comparable to the value that the pyramids of Giza have for ancient Pharaonic Egypt, just as these are the symbol of that era, Sultan Hassan is for the Islamic era.
Madrasa of Sultan Hassan
Although located on the slopes of the Citadel, Sultan Hassan’s madrasa mosque is easy to spot given its imposing appearance. The structure of the mosque is a majestic example of Mamluk architectural style, built around the 14th century, during the reign of Sultan Hassan who was known for his many particularly eccentric expenses. Certainly grand in size for its time, it will also be majestic for today’s visitors.
Sultan Hassan’s mosque is also famous for its stylistic consistency compared to any other monumental mosque in Cairo, a true prototype of architectural style at the time of its construction. The interior is wonderfully decorated and the effect of its enormous central courtyard is strongly suggestive with its grandiose verticality.
The mosque was planned in the style of a madrasa, as already anticipated, a school, rather than a place of worship only.
For this reason, it consists of a cruciform layout divided into four iwans, (this is the name of the rooms suitable for use as study areas) or bays that depart from the inner court, each intended for teaching one of the four schools of thought of Islamic theology.
The four schools are the Hanafi, the Malakia, the Hanbali, and finally the Sha’fita. Particularly interesting and unique is this aspect of giving space to all four schools in a single space, one next to the other.
The building also includes a residence designed to accommodate more than 500 students, as well as the teachers and staff needed to run a school of such caliber and importance.
In addition to the main inner courtyard, Sultan Hassan also dedicated to himself the construction of a mausoleum behind the four iwan area. The mausoleum is positioned in the direction of prayer, of the qibla (precisely the direction in which one must turn when praying).
This construction is characterized by a richly decorated dome. The positioning of the mausoleum in the direction in which the faithful would turn during prayer was rather unusual and controversial since the faithful would have been forced to pray in the direction of the Sultan’s body, instead of turning to Mecca; it is further evidence of the Sultan’s eccentricity and tendency towards megalomania.
In any case, the mausoleum remained empty because of the failure to complete it due to the assassination of Sultan Hassan before it was completed.
Around Sultan Hassan’s mosque.
Next to that of Sultan Hassan, there is a mosque with an equally monumental appearance, Al Rifai, which was built on the inspiration of the Mamluk style by the mother of khedivé Ismail, as the tomb of the royal family.
Here are the remains of Ismail, King Farouk (the last ruler of Egypt), and the last Shah of Iran, who married one of Farouk’s sisters. The Shah was buried in Cairo where he arrived after seeking asylum following his exile from Iran in 1979 during the Islamic Revolution.
Curiosity about the Sultan
He came to power in Egypt twice: the first time was in 1347 A.D. when he was only 13 years old; the second time was in 1356 A.D. when he put an end to the authority of princes and high officials, so they rebelled against him and were attacked by the army. He is said to have fled and gone into hiding.
