All You Need to Know about Al-Zahir Baybars Mosque

Al-Zahir Baybars mosque is a famous mosque located in Sakakeni, Daher, Cairo. It is third widest in Cairo, after the Hakim bi-Amr Allah, and Mosque of Ibn Tulun, built in 879 AD by Ahmed Ibn Tulun the founder of the Tulunid Empire of Egypt.

It is named after Sultan al-Zahir Baybars al-Bunduqdari (1223–1277), the second Mamlouks ruler who gave orders for building it in 1268 AD.

The iconic mosque has been abandoned and re-used for a variety of purposes. During Napoleon's occupation of Egypt (1798-1801) it was used as a military fort and headquarters, called Fort Sulkowski.

It was then used as a barracks for a Senegalese community during the era of Muhammad Ali Basha.

Later, it was used as a soap factory and a bakery. During the British occupation, it was used as an army warehouse and then an abattoir.

Under King Fuad, it was used as a public garden, until the mosque reopened as a house of worship on June 5, 2023 after renovation.

The dome of this mosque was painted, and the qibla wall was decorated as well with marble and glass mosaics representing trees and other greenery.

In fact, this mosque is the first example of the use of ablaq in Cairo, a striped pattern seen here in stone, which later became a popular decoration for Mamluk architecture throughout the city.

Instead of running around the entire exterior, inscriptions on the exterior of the mosque are carved in tablets placed above the mihrab and entrances.

While the exterior of the mosque is made up of stone, the interior is decorated with carved stucco, including stucco grilles in arched windows in the upper wall, and a band of Kufic script that does run around the entire interior.

Despite the fact that it was not common for the Mamluks to associate buildings with specific religious or historical occurrences, the original dome did incorporate "spoils from a crusader fortress" to celebrate a victory of Islam and help the new Mamluk rule to establish religious legitimacy.