The Ibn Talun Mosque was commissioned by the Abbassid governor of Egypt
from 868-884 CE, after whom it is named. It's constructed in a Samarran style, drawing inspiration from the capital of the Abbasid dynasty at the time before it was relocated to Baghdad. One of the distinguishing
features of this architectural style is the spiral design of the
minaret although interestingly, there is some contention over the Ibn
Talun minaret, which some believe was constructed at a later date.
1296 is one historian's estimation. It would not be surprising; the
mosque like many others in Cairo has been restored several times with
new features added on each occasion.
The first of the restorations was in
1177 and was undertaken by Badr al-Jamali, a warlord from Armenia who
rose to prominence in the service of the Fatimid caliphate, eventually
becoming wazir.
The man who took care of the shoe rack by the mosque's entrance showed me the inscription
that Al-Jamali added to the mosque. It's an important piece of
history. According to patachu.com, the
Fatimid caliphs claimed the divine right to rule based on their
direct lineage from Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad, and
the propagation of Fatimid Shi'a Islam as an ideology was vital in
maintaining this legitimacy. Al-Jamali's
rise to power saw the beginning of a trend in Egyptian history where
the Fatimid caliphs became puppets of their wazir
commanders,
figureheads for the military generals to rule from behind.
When he commissioned the
restoration of the Mosque of Ibn Talun, Badr al-Jamali had a slab installed carrying an inscription of
the Shahada,
the Muslim declaration of faith. It reads, “There is no god but
God, Muhammad is the messenger of God.” It then then continues, “wa 'Aliyyun
waliyyu l-Lāh”
- “and Ali is the wali
(friend or vice-regent) of God.” This second part is an article of
faith particular to Shi'i Islam. By installing this inscription,
Al-Jamali was seeking to support the existing political order which
he would later use as a mask for his own rule. I had my photo taken
next to it.
A man with a gun is shouting at me to leave because it's closing time for non-Muslims,
but the guy from the shoe rack keeps saying, "Just one more. I think I've got it this time!"
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