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Draft:Al-Khalifa District

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Al-Khalifa
District
Al-Khalifa District
Mausoleum of Imam al-Shafi'i
Flag of Al-Khalifa
Official seal of Al-Khalifa
Coordinates: 30°01′00″N 31°15′16″E / 30.01667°N 31.25444°E / 30.01667; 31.25444
Country Egypt
Area
 • Total12.79 ha (31.60 acres)
Population
 • Total112,568
Time zoneGMT+3
Websitekhalifa.atharlina.com/ar/about-us

Al-Khalifa District is one of the districts of the southern region of Cairo Governorate[1], known for it's historical and religious monuments, which are considered a distinctive feature of the district. It has a traditional nature and is dotted with old real estate and historical mosques.[2]

Name[edit]

Named after the Fatimid Caliph Al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah, who established and built Cairo.[3]

Infrastructure[edit]

Al-Khalifa district includes several service institutions, including Al-Khalifa police station, the civil registry building for the district, Al-Khalifa General Hospital, and several sports centers for the neighborhood's youth, including:

  • Mubarak Youth Center in Al-Amin and Al-Tunisi.[4]

Location[edit]

Located in the middle of Cairo, Al-Khalifa is the link between residents of the Basateen, Maadi, and Sayeda Zeinab neighborhoods and downtown Cairo.[5]

Chiefdoms[edit]

Al-Khalifa neighborhood consists of fourteen chiefdoms[6], which are:

  • Abagiya.
  • Imamin.
  • Al-Baqali.
  • Al-Tunisi.
  • Al-Hattaba.
  • Helmiya.
  • Khalifa.
  • Sayda Aisha.
  • Saliba.
  • Al-Qadiriya.
  • Mahgar.
  • Darb Ghaziya.
  • Darb al-Hasar.
  • Arab al-Yasar.

Streets[edit]

The most important streets are:

  • Al-Alfy Street.
  • Shaikhon Street.

Landmarks[edit]

Al-Khalifa is considered a historical district, specially with islamic historical mosques[7][8], including:

Mosque of Sultan Hasan[edit]

Sultan Al-Nasser Hasan built the mosque in 757 AH / 1356, it is considered an architectural showpiece from the Mamluk era, with bronze doors inlaid with gold and silver, marble slabs, colored marble floors, and a fountain from which sherbet comes out on special occasions, with an area of about 7906 square meters.[10]

Imam Shafi'i Mosque and Mausoleum[edit]

Sayeda Sakina Mosque[edit]

The mosque is attributed to Amna bint Al-Hussein ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib. She was born in the year 47 AH, and her mother was Rabab bint Amra' al-Qays bin Adi bin Aws, the chief of Banu Kalb. She was named after the grandmother of Muhammad's mother[11], and then her mother nicknamed her Sakina as a metaphor for the souls of her family and household. She married Mus'ab ibn al-Zubayr, then 'Abdullah ibn 'Uthman ibn 'Abdullah, then Zayd ibn 'Arwar ibn Uthman ibn Affan. In Medina, Sakina was known for her high literature, abundant knowledge, and delicate poetry, also known to be the first one to enact seminars. The mausoleum of Sayeda Sakina is located in Al-Khalifa district in Cairo.[12] Historians have differed on the validity of the existence of the mausoleum there, and those who acknowledge its existence rely on the following story:

She was betrothed to Al-Asbagh ibn Abdul Aziz and sent to Egypt by the Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, but she found out that he had cheated, so she went back.
The mosque dates back to the era of Abdul Rahman Katkhda in 1173 AH, the Ministry of Endowments renovated it in the thirteenth century AH, and wrote on the pulpit, "The pulpit was built in the era of Khedive Abbas Helmy II in 1322 AH, as well as on the qibla and the main entrance to the mosque."[13]

Sayeda Aisha Mosque[edit]

The mosque is attributed to Aisha daughter of Jaafar al-Sadiq, son of Imam Muhammad al-Baqir, son of Imam Ali Zain al-Abidin, son of Imam Hussein, son of Imam Ali bin Abi Talib, and she is the sister of Imam Musa al-Kazim. She died in 145 A.H. Her tombstone reads, "This is the tomb of the honorable Lady Aisha, one of the children of Jaafar al-Sadiq, son of Imam Muhammad al-Baqir, son of Ali ibn Abi Talib". Her tomb remained a simple shrine until the sixth century AH, consisting of a square chamber topped by a dome resting on two rows of muqarnas. In the Ayyubid era, a school was built next to the dome, and when the Cairo wall was built, the school was separated from the tomb and a new wall was opened, called Bab Sayeda Aisha or Bab al-Qarafa. The mosque was rebuilt in the 18th century by Emir Abdul Rahman Katkhda, and consisted of a square with a nave in the center, surrounded by arcades. When the Sayeda Aisha Bridge was built, the Qarafa Gate was demolished and Fayda Kamel renovated the Sayeda Aisha Mosque to its current state.[14]

Sayeda Ruqaiya Mosque[edit]

The mosque is attributed to Ruqayya bint al-Hussein, the mosque consists of a rectangular mausoleum whose western side is the entrance and is divided into three sections and the middle one is the cemetery which covered by a dome. This section is separated from the other two sections by two arches, each of which rests on two columns close to the walls, and in the center of each section is a hollow mihrab. The main mihrab is three meters wide, twenty meters long and six meters high, a lobed conch-shaped cap with a medallion in the center, surrounded by the name Muhammad seven times. The mosque's history written on the wooden mihrab in the Museum of Islamic Art dates back to 528 AH 1134, which is corroborated by al-Maqrizi's text.[15]

Citadel of Saladin[edit]

The Saladin al-Ayyubi Citadel is one of the monuments in Al-Khalifa District. Built on Mokattam Hill, the castle was established between 1176 and 1182, overlooking Cairo from the Mokattam Hills and offering a bird's eye view of the city. It was the seat of government of Egypt during the reign of the Mamluks and sultans from the reign of Sultan al-Nasser Saladin al-Ayyubi until the beginning of the rule of the Muhammad Ali dynasty. It contains many archaeological monuments such as Muhammad Ali Mosque, Al-Nasser Muhammad bin Qalawun Mosque, and The Egyptian National Military Museum.[16]

Bab Al-Azab[edit]

On the road to visit the castle from Saladin Square, it was renovated by Emir Radwan Ketkhda al-Jalafi in 1160 AH 1747 AD, and the corridor with its small towers was built in 1868 AD. It's a large gate, also known as the chain gate or the stable door. In front of it is the mosque of Ahmed Ketkhda Azban, established in 1109 AH 1697 AD on the remains of the chapel and pathway of King Almoayyad Sheikh Al Mahmoudi. In the southern section are the remains of the Ibliq Palace with its colored stones and the tower built by Al-Nasser Muhammad Ibn Qalawun in 713 AH/1313 AD. In the north eastern wing is the rocky passageway where the castle massacre took place in 1811.[17]

Areas[edit]

Al-Tunisi[edit]

Al-Tunisi is considered an important area of Al-Khalifa district, bordered on the east by the Autostrad Cemetery area and Mokattam Hill, on the west by the Imam Al-Shafi'i Cemetery and Imam Al-Shafi'i area, on the south by the Basateen Cemetery and Basateen neighborhood, and on the north by the area and cemeteries of Sayeda Aisha.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Khalifa District". www.cairo.gov.eg. Archived from the original on 2023-09-29. Accessed on 2023-12-27.
  2. ^ "Al-Khalifa - Tadamun". Archived from the original on 2023-03-23. Accessed on 2023-12-27.
  3. ^ Phillip، Thomas؛ Haarmann، Ulrich،  (1999). The Mamluks in Egyptian politics and society. Cambridge studies in Islamic civilization. Cambridge University Press. ISBN:978-0-521-59115-7.
  4. ^ Youth Centers in the Southern Region
  5. ^ Ali Mubarak: The New Plans C5, pp. 89-91.
  6. ^ Southern District. Cairo Governorate, Access date: February 2, 2016.  Southern Archived 2018-04-26 at Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Mohamed, Amira (November 25, 2020). "'Neighborhood of the Caliphate': Tales from the heart of the Al-Bayt shrines". Bab Misr. Archived from the original on 2022-09-29. Accessed on 2023-12-27.
  8. ^ "The tombs of the Ahl al-Bayt in the Khalifa neighborhood. Here lies the daughter of Ali ibn Abi Talib and the uncle of Mrs. Nafisa." The seventh day. January 6, 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-07-19. Accessed on 2023-12-27.
  9. ^ "Ahmed Ibn Tulun Mosque". Al-Ahram. July 26, 2012. Archived from the original on 2019-06-03. Accessed on 2017-06-08.
  10. ^ Civilization in the Mamluk Era - Story of Islam | Islamic History Portal Supervised by Dr. Ragheb al-Sarjani Archived 2017-06-29 at Wayback Machine
  11. ^ Zainabat News - Page 43. Archived 2020-06-21 at Wayback Machine
  12. ^ See : Al-Bayt Mosques. Archived 2020-06-28 at Wayback Machine
  13. ^ Civilization in the Mamluk Era - Story of Islam | Islamic History Portal Supervised by Dr. Ragheb al-Sarjani Archived 2017-06-29 at Wayback Machine
  14. ^ Hassan Abdulwahab: History of Mosques, pp. 323-326.
  15. ^ Al-Jabarti, Abd al-Rahman: Wonders of the Antiquities C1 p. 168.
  16. ^ Souad Maher: Mosques of Egypt C5, pp. 243-246.
  17. ^ Ahmed Mansour (December 14, 2015). "In pictures... Bab al-Azab in the Citadel suffers from neglect". The seventh day. Archived from the original on 2020-06-18. Accessed on 2017-12-03.