Shaarih al-Khalifa: Shi'a Monuments

Shaarih al-Khalifa: Shi'a Monuments

Mausoleum dome (interior) of Sayyida 'Atika (and Muhammad al-Ga'fari); cowl detail of primary interior mihrab of Sayyida Ruqayya; sunrise motif of of primary interior mihrab cowl of Sayyida Ruqayya; sunrise motif of of primary interior mihrab cowl of Sayyida Ruqayya"Atika; squinch band below Sayyida 'Atika vestibule dome (note trilobe window to right, crisply-carved, keel-arch tripartite muqarna at left, corner of dome); muqarna squinches below Sayyida Ruqqaya vestibule dome; overall view of Sayyida Ruqayya vestibule dome (interior)

Sayyida Ruqqaya is the daughter of 'Ali, husband of Fatima, the Messenger's daughter. The 'Alid cult that Christian vizier Badr al-Gamali elevated (and a modern version of which today operates her shrine) revered Ruqqaya as a blood relative of 'Ali. (The 'Alid cult elevates 'Ali to a higher station than the Messenger himself, an Islamically-illegal practice that can approach polytheism or idolatry.) Ruqayya's shrine was constructed in AD1133. It was restored by an Ottoman agha in AD1824 and again by the broader government in 1916. While some of the tomb elements are now part of the collection of the Museum of Islamic Art, the rich stucco mihrab and dome carvings remain in place.

And, they are rich and intricate indeed, having a vine-like character suggesting that the work sprang spontaneously from the floor to frame the mihrab opening. The cowl and dome ribs spring from the center of the solar motif. Fatimid Cairo was very wealthy, and the Fatimids had access to craftsmen from every region of the Arab world, much of which it controlled. Such intense botanic ornament recalls two things about the dynasty: that their prior seat had been in Tunisia, where intensely-worked stucco was most common. And, that Islma'ili Shi'a theology emphasized the caliph's authority as derived from being a descendant of the Messenger, the family of which was likened to an ever-growing plant. The Fatimids had carried the bodies of caliphs who had died in the Maghreb and re-interred them in al-Qahira, in the southern end of the Great Western Palace (the very site of al-Khan al-Khalili) rather than leave behind these relics. And, the Fatimids were vigorous proselytizers for Ismail'ili Shi'a Islam, notably starting a masged (al-Azhar, or "the Appearing"), then fashioning part of it into the world's second-oldest university to train missionaries and to advance Islamic law on their terms. They were not terribly successful at spreading Ismai'ilism during their residence in Cairo. Their attempts to change Islam were undone immediately by the Ayyubid dynasty, but the Fatimid innovations in Islamic art and architecture endure.

Cairene Fatimid Caliphate (AD969-1171)

October 2009 Cairo Historic Buildings Survey

Brian Carter Broadus LLC

AD1122 (Sayyida 'Atika); AD1133 (Sayyida Ruqqaya)

Brian Carter Broadus AIA

Creative Commons 3.0 USA: Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works

JPEG

Visual

Digital image

Shaarih_al-Khalifa_18; Shaarih_al-Khalifa_19; Shaarih_al-Khalifa_20; Shaarih_al-Khalifa_21; Shaarih_al-Khalifa_22; Shaarih_al-Khalifa_23; Shaarih_al-Khalifa_24

CCMAA/SCA Monument: 273 (Sayyida Ruqayya); CCMAA/SCA Monument: 333 (Sayyida 'Atika)

Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus: 300007547

Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names: 7001215