Mosque of Sultan al-Muayyad
Encyclopedia
The Mosque of Sultan al-Mu'ayyad is a Mosque
in Cairo
, Egypt
next to Bab Zuwayla built by the Mamluk
sultan Al-Mu'ayyad Sayf ad-Din Shaykh from whom it takes its name. Construction began in 1415 and the mosque was completed in 1421. The complex included a Friday mosque and a madrasa for four madhhabs. It replaced a prison which originally stood next to Bab Zuwayla.
custom, al-Mu’ayyad Shaykh was purchased by Sultan Al-Malik Az-Zahir Sayf ad-Din Barquq when he was ten or twelve years old. As an adult, he served for ten years as the governor of Tripoli under an appointment by Sultan An-Nasir Naseer ad-Din Faraj.
The historian Al-Maqrizi
relates the future Sultan al-Mu'ayyad was imprisoned in the same prison which the mosque replaced as while an emir
under Sultan Faraj. Shaykh suffered so terribly from fleas and lice during his imprisonment, he vowed that he would transform the prison into "a saintly place for the education of scholars" if he ever came to power. True to his word, when he became Sultan he commissioned the mosque.
In 1412, Shaykh assisted in overthrowing Sultan Faraj, and within six months, he seized power and became the new Sultan. He took the title al-Mu'ayyad and began to expand his empire through battles against neighboring territories. As sultan, al-Mu'ayyad led a number of successful campaigns to northern Syria
, as well as fighting Turkoman
neighbors in Anatolia. He advanced as far as Konya
before having to return to Cairo. Sultan al-Mu'ayyad's reign was plagued by troubles: the Bubonic plague
, currency devaluation
, and rebellious bedouins all disturbed his reign. Despite this, the Sultan still managed to oversee the building of the mosque, which is recognized today as one of Cairo's
signature landmarks.
Under the sultan's sponsorship, the madrasa within the mosque became one of the most prominent academic institutions Cairo in the fifteenth century. The lavish endowment left by the sultan upon his death allowed the madrasa to hire the most eminent scholars of the day as professors. The most famous Quranic specialist in Egypt, Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani, lectured in Shafi'i
jurisprudence at the madrasa.
Sultan al-Mu'ayyad Shaykh died in 1421, eleven years after he took power. Throughout his reign, he gained a reputation as a humble man and as one of the great patrons of architecture in Cairo. On his death, the sultan left behind several religious and secular monuments, including a khanqah
in Giza, palaces along the Khalij and the Nile
, and the Mosque of Sultan al-Mu'ayyad.
The mosque required such a large quantity of marble that some of it was harvested from pre-existing structures. Besides marble, many other parts of the mosque were cannibalized from other buildings, including the mosque's columns and a beautiful bronze door and chandelier. The door and chandelier are particularly famous instances of this; both are said to have come from the Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan
. Removing parts of current mosques was illegal while the Mosque of Sultan al-Mu'ayyad was being built, so taking the door and chandelier were tanamount to stealing, despite donations the Sultan made to the old mosque. Although the new mosque was not officially completed until 1422, an inaugural celebration was held in November of 1419 to celebrate the new building.
Even after the official conclusion of the mosque's construction, a number of structures in the original plans were never built. The dome of the second mausoleum attached to the mosque was never completed. A separate building for use as dormitories by Sufi students who studied at the madrasa were not immediately erected, despite an allocation of 20,000 dinars toward them. Later mosque records are unclear as to whether the Sufi dormitories were later completed as plans, though the students definitely were given space in which to live.
, Shafi'i
, Maliki
, and Hanbali
schools of Sharia
law. According to the mosque's original documents, the madrasa was to house fifty Hanafis, forty Shafi'is, fifteen Malikis, and ten Hanbalis, and their respective teachers and imams. There were also two classes of twenty students each for students of tafsir
and Hadith
, and two others of ten each for students of the Quran recitation and legal studies, according to the Hanafi jurist al-Tahawi.
mosque built in Cairo. Originally it had four facades and entrances. Over time, the mosque fell into disrepair, and today only the eastern facade and the prayer hall are original to the mosque. Much of what can be seen today has been restored over the past two hundred years and is not necessarily how the mosque originally looked.
In order to build the mosque, a portion of the Fatimid
wall which used to surround Cairo had to be demolished; however, an old section of the wall was recently discovered within the mosque's structure and can be seen today by visitors. Two towers from the original wall were saved from demolition and serve as the base of the mosque's two remaining minaret
s.
The main portal, or muqarnas
is set in a pistaq, or rectangular frame, that rises above the mosque's facade. This was the last grand portal built in the Mamluk period; it is framed with to the mosque is decorated with finely carved marble bands and kufic calligraphic script. The marble was carved in a geometric pattern and decorated by polychromatic stones and colored stucco in high relief. The main door is a masterpiece of bronze work taken from the Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan
, while the dome is a typical example of Mamluk stone masonry with a cylindrical base and carved zig-zag pattern. The original facades were particularly tall for the period, due to the extra height added by the Fatimid towers at the base of the minarets. The facades were decorated with two rows of windows, and shops beneath each wall of the mosque were added in the original plans and remain today. The shops attached to and around the mosque play an important role in the mosque's upkeep, as a percentage of their earnings go toward maintaining the building and its staff.
Originally, the mosque was intended to include a symmetrical pair of domed mausoleums flanking a prayer hall; this ambition was curbed when the dome of the second mausoleum was not completed. On either side of the prayer hall are funerary chambers, housing the Sultan and his son in one and female members of the Sultan's family in the other. The Sultan's chamber has a domed ceiling, as originally planned, while the women's chamber has a plain flat ceiling. This dome is a reduced copy of Faraj's twin domes; because of the large size of the mosque, the dome appears disproportionately small in its setting.
The sanctuary of the mosque was one of the most richly decorated of its time; wall decoration was limited to the prayer hall, which was decorated with polychromatic marble high enough to include window and mihrab
recesses. The marble columns are pre-Islamic and have diverse sizes and shapes, since they were drawn from structures across Cairo and the surrounding territories. Floors were paved with polychrome marble in the sanctuary and courtyard, although the minor riwaq
s were paved with stone. Interestingly, the prayer hall includes two blind windows decorated either in the Andalusian or Moroccan style, one in a geometric pattern and the other in floral.
The mihrab and minbar
are both decorated in a typical period style. The minbar is decorated with finely carved wooden doors and panels, and above the minbar is a large rosette of polychrome marble. This is particularly unique because this style is usually used on a floor, rather than upon a wall.
The funerary chambers are largely plain, although there are cenotaph
s running along the wall and carved in marble. The largest of these cenotaphs is a quote from the Qur'an in Kufic
script reading "Surely those who avoid evil will be among gardens and fountains: enter them in peace, secure" (Qur'an 15:45-46). Both funerary chambers have shallow mihrabs on their walls facing the lesser riwaqs. These mihrabs were likely used by people praying within each riwaq, especially in the case of overflow during peak prayer times.
Other rooms in the mosque included a library, which was itself known for its collection of books. The majority of books in the library came directly from the Citadel's royal collection. Five hundred others were donated by the sultan's private secretary, Muhammad al-Barizi. For this contribution, al-Barizi's son was appointed as the mosque's preacher and librarian. Donations similar to this were common among high-level bureaucrats in the hope that they might gain similar favor with the Sultan.
The mosque has a remarkably large pavilion compared to other mosques in the area with an ablutions fountain in the centre. The original fountain was said to have marble columns roofed with a gilded wooden dome above an awning, adding to the building's splendor. On the western side of the mosque, there are the ruins of a hammam
.
Inside the minarets are carved cartouches signed and dated by the architect upon the completion of each. This is particularly rare; it is very uncommon for an architect to leave his mark on a building in this era. The eastern minaret reads that the "ma'dhana" (or minaret) was built by Muhammad Ibn al-Qazzaz and was finished in August 1419. The western minaret is slightly different, reading that the Sultan al-Mu'ayyad ordered the construction of two "manars" (minarets) and that they were executed by Muhammad Ibn al-Qazzaz and completed in August 1420. Scholars are unsure as to why two different words for minaret were used in each inscription, and it remains a small mystery of the building. There was also a third minaret at the West portal to the street, but it fell into disrepair and was never rebuilt.
By the nineteenth century, the mosque had fallen into such disrepair that all that remained was one facade, the prayer hall, and the mausoleums. Ibrahim Pasha, the son of Muhammad 'Ali
, oversaw restorations in the late 1830s and 1840s, including the installation of Turkish tiles in the qibla
wall. In the late nineteenth century, the Comites rebuilt the western facade and turned the courtyard into a garden.
In 2001, the mosque again underwent restorations, this time by the order of the Egyptian Ministry of Culture
. These restorations removed the garden from the courtyard and rebuilt the majority of the mosque, including missing arcades around the courtyard. This project has restored the mosque and its results can be seen today; however, visitors should note that what they see is not necessarily what the mosque looked like in its original form.
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
next to Bab Zuwayla built by the Mamluk
Mamluk
A Mamluk was a soldier of slave origin, who were predominantly Cumans/Kipchaks The "mamluk phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior...
sultan Al-Mu'ayyad Sayf ad-Din Shaykh from whom it takes its name. Construction began in 1415 and the mosque was completed in 1421. The complex included a Friday mosque and a madrasa for four madhhabs. It replaced a prison which originally stood next to Bab Zuwayla.
Sultan al-Mu'ayyad
In keeping with MamlukMamluk
A Mamluk was a soldier of slave origin, who were predominantly Cumans/Kipchaks The "mamluk phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior...
custom, al-Mu’ayyad Shaykh was purchased by Sultan Al-Malik Az-Zahir Sayf ad-Din Barquq when he was ten or twelve years old. As an adult, he served for ten years as the governor of Tripoli under an appointment by Sultan An-Nasir Naseer ad-Din Faraj.
The historian Al-Maqrizi
Al-Maqrizi
Taqi al-Din Ahmad ibn 'Ali ibn 'Abd al-Qadir ibn Muhammad al-Maqrizi ; Arabic: , was an Egyptian historian more commonly known as al-Maqrizi or Makrizi...
relates the future Sultan al-Mu'ayyad was imprisoned in the same prison which the mosque replaced as while an emir
Emir
Emir , meaning "commander", "general", or "prince"; also transliterated as Amir, Aamir or Ameer) is a title of high office, used throughout the Muslim world...
under Sultan Faraj. Shaykh suffered so terribly from fleas and lice during his imprisonment, he vowed that he would transform the prison into "a saintly place for the education of scholars" if he ever came to power. True to his word, when he became Sultan he commissioned the mosque.
In 1412, Shaykh assisted in overthrowing Sultan Faraj, and within six months, he seized power and became the new Sultan. He took the title al-Mu'ayyad and began to expand his empire through battles against neighboring territories. As sultan, al-Mu'ayyad led a number of successful campaigns to northern Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, as well as fighting Turkoman
Turkmen people
The Turkmen are a Turkic people located primarily in the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and northeastern Iran. They speak the Turkmen language, which is classified as a part of the Western Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages family together with Turkish, Azerbaijani, Qashqai,...
neighbors in Anatolia. He advanced as far as Konya
Konya
Konya is a city in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. The metropolitan area in the entire Konya Province had a population of 1,036,027 as of 2010, making the city seventh most populous in Turkey.-Etymology:...
before having to return to Cairo. Sultan al-Mu'ayyad's reign was plagued by troubles: the Bubonic plague
Bubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
, currency devaluation
Devaluation
Devaluation is a reduction in the value of a currency with respect to those goods, services or other monetary units with which that currency can be exchanged....
, and rebellious bedouins all disturbed his reign. Despite this, the Sultan still managed to oversee the building of the mosque, which is recognized today as one of Cairo's
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
signature landmarks.
Under the sultan's sponsorship, the madrasa within the mosque became one of the most prominent academic institutions Cairo in the fifteenth century. The lavish endowment left by the sultan upon his death allowed the madrasa to hire the most eminent scholars of the day as professors. The most famous Quranic specialist in Egypt, Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani, lectured in Shafi'i
Shafi'i
The Shafi'i madhhab is one of the schools of fiqh, or religious law, within the Sunni branch of Islam. The Shafi'i school of fiqh is named after Imām ash-Shafi'i.-Principles:...
jurisprudence at the madrasa.
Sultan al-Mu'ayyad Shaykh died in 1421, eleven years after he took power. Throughout his reign, he gained a reputation as a humble man and as one of the great patrons of architecture in Cairo. On his death, the sultan left behind several religious and secular monuments, including a khanqah
Khanqah
A Khanqah, Khaniqah , ribat, zawiya, or tekke is a building designed specifically for gatherings of a Sufi brotherhood, or tariqa, and is a place for spiritual retreat and character reformation...
in Giza, palaces along the Khalij and the Nile
Nile
The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...
, and the Mosque of Sultan al-Mu'ayyad.
Construction
Construction of the mosque began in May of 1415. The project was an ambitious one, costing the sultan 40,000 dinars between commencement and completion. According to al-Maqrizi, thirty builders and one hundred workers labored on the structure over seven years.The mosque required such a large quantity of marble that some of it was harvested from pre-existing structures. Besides marble, many other parts of the mosque were cannibalized from other buildings, including the mosque's columns and a beautiful bronze door and chandelier. The door and chandelier are particularly famous instances of this; both are said to have come from the Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan
Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan
The Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan is a massive Mamluk era mosque and madrassa located near the Citadel in Cairo. Its construction began 757 AH/1356 CE with work ending three years later "without even a single day of idleness". At the time of construction the mosque was considered remarkable for...
. Removing parts of current mosques was illegal while the Mosque of Sultan al-Mu'ayyad was being built, so taking the door and chandelier were tanamount to stealing, despite donations the Sultan made to the old mosque. Although the new mosque was not officially completed until 1422, an inaugural celebration was held in November of 1419 to celebrate the new building.
Even after the official conclusion of the mosque's construction, a number of structures in the original plans were never built. The dome of the second mausoleum attached to the mosque was never completed. A separate building for use as dormitories by Sufi students who studied at the madrasa were not immediately erected, despite an allocation of 20,000 dinars toward them. Later mosque records are unclear as to whether the Sufi dormitories were later completed as plans, though the students definitely were given space in which to live.
Purpose
The mosque was intended as a funerary complex and for use in Friday prayers, but its greatest purpose was that of a madrasa for Sufi students, according to al-Maqrizi's story of its origins. The madrasa was devoted to the study of the HanafiHanafi
The Hanafi school is one of the four Madhhab in jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. The Hanafi madhhab is named after the Persian scholar Abu Hanifa an-Nu‘man ibn Thābit , a Tabi‘i whose legal views were preserved primarily by his two most important disciples, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad al-Shaybani...
, Shafi'i
Shafi'i
The Shafi'i madhhab is one of the schools of fiqh, or religious law, within the Sunni branch of Islam. The Shafi'i school of fiqh is named after Imām ash-Shafi'i.-Principles:...
, Maliki
Maliki
The ' madhhab is one of the schools of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam. It is the second-largest of the four schools, followed by approximately 25% of Muslims, mostly in North Africa, West Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and in some parts of Saudi Arabia...
, and Hanbali
Hanbali
The Hanbali school is one the schools of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam. The jurisprudence school traces back to Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal but was institutionalized by his students. Hanbali jurisprudence is considered very strict and conservative, especially regarding questions of dogma...
schools of Sharia
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
law. According to the mosque's original documents, the madrasa was to house fifty Hanafis, forty Shafi'is, fifteen Malikis, and ten Hanbalis, and their respective teachers and imams. There were also two classes of twenty students each for students of tafsir
Tafsir
Tafseer is the Arabic word for exegesis or commentary, usually of the Qur'an. Ta'wīl is a subset of tafsir and refers to esoteric or mystical interpretation. An author of tafsir is a mufassir .- Etymology :...
and Hadith
Hadith
The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....
, and two others of ten each for students of the Quran recitation and legal studies, according to the Hanafi jurist al-Tahawi.
Exterior
The Mosque of Sultan al-Mu'ayyad was the last great hypostyleHypostyle
In architecture, a hypostyle hall has a roof which is supported by columns, as in the Great Hypostyle Hall at Karnak. The word hypostyle comes from the Ancient Greek hypóstȳlos meaning "under columns"...
mosque built in Cairo. Originally it had four facades and entrances. Over time, the mosque fell into disrepair, and today only the eastern facade and the prayer hall are original to the mosque. Much of what can be seen today has been restored over the past two hundred years and is not necessarily how the mosque originally looked.
Fatimid
The Fatimid Islamic Caliphate or al-Fāṭimiyyūn was a Berber Shia Muslim caliphate first centered in Tunisia and later in Egypt that ruled over varying areas of the Maghreb, Sudan, Sicily, the Levant, and Hijaz from 5 January 909 to 1171.The caliphate was ruled by the Fatimids, who established the...
wall which used to surround Cairo had to be demolished; however, an old section of the wall was recently discovered within the mosque's structure and can be seen today by visitors. Two towers from the original wall were saved from demolition and serve as the base of the mosque's two remaining minaret
Minaret
A minaret مناره , sometimes مئذنه) is a distinctive architectural feature of Islamic mosques, generally a tall spire with an onion-shaped or conical crown, usually either free standing or taller than any associated support structure. The basic form of a minaret includes a base, shaft, and gallery....
s.
The main portal, or muqarnas
Muqarnas
Muqarnas is a type of corbel used as a decorative device in traditional Islamic architecture. The term is similar to mocárabe, but mocárabe only refers to designs with formations resembling stalactites, by the use of elements known as alveole.Muqarnas takes the form of small pointed niches,...
is set in a pistaq, or rectangular frame, that rises above the mosque's facade. This was the last grand portal built in the Mamluk period; it is framed with to the mosque is decorated with finely carved marble bands and kufic calligraphic script. The marble was carved in a geometric pattern and decorated by polychromatic stones and colored stucco in high relief. The main door is a masterpiece of bronze work taken from the Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan
Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan
The Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan is a massive Mamluk era mosque and madrassa located near the Citadel in Cairo. Its construction began 757 AH/1356 CE with work ending three years later "without even a single day of idleness". At the time of construction the mosque was considered remarkable for...
, while the dome is a typical example of Mamluk stone masonry with a cylindrical base and carved zig-zag pattern. The original facades were particularly tall for the period, due to the extra height added by the Fatimid towers at the base of the minarets. The facades were decorated with two rows of windows, and shops beneath each wall of the mosque were added in the original plans and remain today. The shops attached to and around the mosque play an important role in the mosque's upkeep, as a percentage of their earnings go toward maintaining the building and its staff.
Originally, the mosque was intended to include a symmetrical pair of domed mausoleums flanking a prayer hall; this ambition was curbed when the dome of the second mausoleum was not completed. On either side of the prayer hall are funerary chambers, housing the Sultan and his son in one and female members of the Sultan's family in the other. The Sultan's chamber has a domed ceiling, as originally planned, while the women's chamber has a plain flat ceiling. This dome is a reduced copy of Faraj's twin domes; because of the large size of the mosque, the dome appears disproportionately small in its setting.
Interior
Mihrab
A mihrab is semicircular niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the qibla; that is, the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca and hence the direction that Muslims should face when praying...
recesses. The marble columns are pre-Islamic and have diverse sizes and shapes, since they were drawn from structures across Cairo and the surrounding territories. Floors were paved with polychrome marble in the sanctuary and courtyard, although the minor riwaq
Riwaq
A riwaq is an arcade or portico open on at least one side. Such structures are built in Iran and other Islamic countries, mostly in the bazaars or mosques....
s were paved with stone. Interestingly, the prayer hall includes two blind windows decorated either in the Andalusian or Moroccan style, one in a geometric pattern and the other in floral.
The mihrab and minbar
Minbar
A minbar is a pulpit in the mosque where the imam stands to deliver sermons or in the Hussainia where the speaker sits and lectures the congregation...
are both decorated in a typical period style. The minbar is decorated with finely carved wooden doors and panels, and above the minbar is a large rosette of polychrome marble. This is particularly unique because this style is usually used on a floor, rather than upon a wall.
The funerary chambers are largely plain, although there are cenotaph
Cenotaph
A cenotaph is an "empty tomb" or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been interred elsewhere. The word derives from the Greek κενοτάφιον = kenotaphion...
s running along the wall and carved in marble. The largest of these cenotaphs is a quote from the Qur'an in Kufic
Kufic
Kufic is the oldest calligraphic form of the various Arabic scripts and consists of a modified form of the old Nabataean script. Its name is derived from the city of Kufa, Iraq, although it was known in Mesopotamia at least 100 years before the foundation of Kufa. At the time of the emergence of...
script reading "Surely those who avoid evil will be among gardens and fountains: enter them in peace, secure" (Qur'an 15:45-46). Both funerary chambers have shallow mihrabs on their walls facing the lesser riwaqs. These mihrabs were likely used by people praying within each riwaq, especially in the case of overflow during peak prayer times.
Other rooms in the mosque included a library, which was itself known for its collection of books. The majority of books in the library came directly from the Citadel's royal collection. Five hundred others were donated by the sultan's private secretary, Muhammad al-Barizi. For this contribution, al-Barizi's son was appointed as the mosque's preacher and librarian. Donations similar to this were common among high-level bureaucrats in the hope that they might gain similar favor with the Sultan.
Hammam
A Turkish bath is the Turkish variant of a steam bath, sauna or Russian Bath, distinguished by a focus on water, as distinct from ambient steam....
.
Inside the minarets are carved cartouches signed and dated by the architect upon the completion of each. This is particularly rare; it is very uncommon for an architect to leave his mark on a building in this era. The eastern minaret reads that the "ma'dhana" (or minaret) was built by Muhammad Ibn al-Qazzaz and was finished in August 1419. The western minaret is slightly different, reading that the Sultan al-Mu'ayyad ordered the construction of two "manars" (minarets) and that they were executed by Muhammad Ibn al-Qazzaz and completed in August 1420. Scholars are unsure as to why two different words for minaret were used in each inscription, and it remains a small mystery of the building. There was also a third minaret at the West portal to the street, but it fell into disrepair and was never rebuilt.
Renovations
Throughout its history, the Mosque of Sultan al-Mu'ayyad has undergone extensive renovations. Even early on, reconstruction was necessary. According to al-Maqrizi, the eastern minaret had to be pulled down and rebuilt as early as 1418 due to structural insecurity from its tower base. Another three-story minaret stood at the Western portal on a side street; it collapsed in 1427 during Sultan Barsbay's reign and was immediately rebuilt.By the nineteenth century, the mosque had fallen into such disrepair that all that remained was one facade, the prayer hall, and the mausoleums. Ibrahim Pasha, the son of Muhammad 'Ali
Muhammad Ali of Egypt
Muhammad Ali Pasha al-Mas'ud ibn Agha was a commander in the Ottoman army, who became Wāli, and self-declared Khedive of Egypt and Sudan...
, oversaw restorations in the late 1830s and 1840s, including the installation of Turkish tiles in the qibla
Qibla
The Qiblah , also transliterated as Qibla, Kiblah or Kibla, is the direction that should be faced when a Muslim prays during salah...
wall. In the late nineteenth century, the Comites rebuilt the western facade and turned the courtyard into a garden.
In 2001, the mosque again underwent restorations, this time by the order of the Egyptian Ministry of Culture
Ministry of Culture (Egypt)
The Ministry of Culture of Egypt is a ministry responsible for maintaining and promoting the culture of Egypt. The current Minister is Dr. Emad Badr El-Din Mahmoud Abu Ghazy.-Critics:...
. These restorations removed the garden from the courtyard and rebuilt the majority of the mosque, including missing arcades around the courtyard. This project has restored the mosque and its results can be seen today; however, visitors should note that what they see is not necessarily what the mosque looked like in its original form.