I should talk about two important things:

الشيخ الرفاعي و الطريقة الرفاعية و الطرق الصوفية و ربطها بما يحدث حاليا -1

التحدث عن مكان اقامة مراسم الزواج و قاعة المناسبات التي توجد على يسار المدخل )قبل مدفن الملك فاروق من الداخل( -2

المالكة و شاة ايران و عالقة مصر وايران في ذلك الوقت التحدث عن مقابر األسرة -3

The mosque of Al Refaie'

The mosque of Al Refaie' is considered one of the remarkable Islamic structures in

Cairo. The mosque is located in the Qala'a square in front of the citadel just facing

the great Mosque of Al Sultan Hassan. The Refaie Mosque was embellished by

Khoshiar, the mother of Khedive Ismail to be the mausoleum of the royal family.

Nobody knows why exactly did Khoshiar choose that location this small "Zaweya"

praying place, to build the mosque. Maybe because she wanted to build a mosque

that is similar to that of Al Sultan Hassan in its size and greatness. She wanted to

renew the Zaweya of Al Refaie so she bought all the surrounding areas around it

and then she destroyed the Zaweya all in all and started to build a new huge

mosque.

The mosque was built on the site of an older mosque called mosque of "Al

Zakhira" which was built in the Ayubids era and it contained the dooms of many

Islamic Imams and religious people.

Although the mosque of Al Refaie is named after Sheikh Ahmed Al Refaie who

was the Sufi leader of Al Refaieya method, he was never buried there. He was

actually never buried in Egypt. However, the Zaweya continued having the name

of Al Refaie and afterwards an ancestor of Al Refaie, Sheikh Abu Shebak was

buried there.

Egyptian best construction engineer at the time, Hussein Fahmy Pasha made a

design for the new mosque to contain the tombs of the royal family. He also added

two domes for the two sheikhs who were buried there, Ali Abu Shebak and Yehia

Al Ansary.

However, in 1881 the building work stopped to add some changes to the design,

but the whole process stopped with the death of Khoshiar Hanem in 1885 and she

was buried in the mosque.

Twenty five years later, when Abbas Helmy the second became ruler of Egypt, he

ordered Hatz Pasha, the director of the association of Egyptian Antiquities at the

time, to continue building the mosque.

The mosque was first opened for public on Friday of the year 1912.

The Mosque of Al Refaie was built to look like the great mosque of Al Sultan

Hassan in its size, height, and luxury. It contained huge entrance gates with tall

columns made out of rock and marble with rich Arabic decorations. The builders

of the mosque didn’t want it to appear like an elf beside the giant.

The mosque from inside has a rectangular shape with the area of 7500 meter with

1767 meters prepared for praying and the rest was built as a mausoleum.

The main gate of the mosque is located in its western side and above it lays a dome

which is decorated with gold. Then there is a door that leads to the tombs of Abu

Shebak and Ali Al Ansary.

Most of the walls of the Mosque are decorated with colored marbles that were

imported from seven countries from all around the world. The walls, doors, and

windows of the mosque is highly decorated with Abanos wood and a lot of golden

ornaments.

The Mihrab of the Mosque is located inside its Eastern walls and it is clothed with

colored marble and has four marble columns. There are five colored lines drawn

inside the Mihrab and some of them contain golden ornaments.

Beside the Mihrab, there is the fascinating Minbar which was decorated with ivory,

ebony, and mother of pearl. It has a quite unique style as it was made in the

Mamluk way. The small door of the Minbar is rich with wooden decorations.

One of the most remarkable items of the mosque is its white pure alabaster Dekka,

or place of the prayer caller. It is unique in its design and decorations that you

don’t find anything like it in the whole country of Egypt. It is built on eight white

marble columns holding it and it contains some Quran inscriptions which were

written with pure gold.

In the northern side of the mosque, there are six gates. Four of them lead to the

burial rooms of the kings, queens, and royal family.

The first of these rooms contains the tombs of four of the Khedive Tawfik sons and

daughters: Wahida who died in 1858, Zeinab who died in 1875, Ali Gamal El din

who died in 1893, and Ibrahim Helmy who died in 1926. There is a beautiful small

dome above this room which is decorated with Quranic inscriptions.

To the west, there is another room where Khedive Ismail and his mother, Khoshiar

Hanem, the builder of this mosque were buried.

Afterwards, there is the room where the daughters of Khedive where the wives of

Ismail were buried and they are: Shohrat Vasa who died in 1895, Ganayar who

died in 1912, and Gushm Afet who died in 1907.

There is a door from this room that leads to the room where Sultan Hussein Kamal,

the son of Ismail who ruled Egypt in 1914 and died in 1917 to be followed by his

brother kind Farouk.

The Shah of Iran, Mohamed Reda Bahlawy, the former husband of queen Fawzeya

was buried in the Mosque of Al Refaie and this incident has a tragic story behind

it. When the Islamic revolution rose in Iran, he was exiled. He couldn’t find a place

to host him until the former Egyptian president Anwar El Sadat welcomed him in

Egypt and when he died, Al Saddat ordered that he should be buried in the Mosque

of Al Refaie. His tomb room is one of the most amazing in the mosque as it is

decorated with beautiful marble floor and walls. Strangely enough, the father of the

Shah was buried for some time in the same room.

Beside the room of the Iranian Shah, there is the burial room of king Foaud (1868-

1936). In the eastern wall of this room, there is a door that leads to the tomb of

king Farouk who died in Rome in 1965.

King Farouk wanted to be buried in the Mosque of Al Refaie beside his family and

relatives. However, the former Egyptian president at the time, Gamal Abdel

Nasser, didn’t like the idea. He agreed that King Farouk can be buried in Cairo but

not in the Mosque of Al Refaie and this is what actually happened. Until in 1970,

when Nasser passed away, the body of King Farouk was transferred to the Mosque

of Al Refei.

The Rifa'i tariqa

The Rifa'i order / tariqa (also Rufa'i, Rifa'iyya,Rifa'iya) (Arabic, الرفاعية) is an eminentSufi order

founded by Ahmed ar-Rifa'i and developed in the Lower Iraq marshlands between Wasit and

Basra. The Rifa'iyya had its greatest following until the 15th century C.E. when it was overtaken

by the Qadiri order. Presently the order is said to maintain particular influence in Cairo, Egypt.[1]

The Rifa'i order is most commonly found in the Arab Middle East but also in Turkey,

theBalkans and South Asia.

History

There appears to be no definitive information as to the specific point in time when the Rifa'i

order arose. However, records indicate Ahmad al-Rifa'i inherited his maternal uncle's, Mansur

al-Bata'ihi, position of headship to his religious community in 1145-6 C.E. Around this point, al-

Rifa'i possessed a huge following during his activities in and around the village of Umm

'Ubayda.[2] In the Lower Iraq marshlands, the Rifa'i order developed and gained considerable

notice throughout 12th century C.E. due to its extravagant practices. The Rifa'i quickly

expanded into Egypt and Syria. In 1268 C.E., Abu Muhammad 'Ali al-Hariri formed the Syrian

branch of the order which became known as the Haririya.[3] The Rifa'i gained further popularity

not only in Egypt, but also Turkey. In 15th century C.E., Rifa'i popularity waned and the

popularity of the Kadiriyya order rose.[4]Subsequently, interest in the Rifa'i order centered within

Arab lands.[5]

The order has a marked presence in Syria and Egypt and plays a noticeable role

inKosovo and Albania. The Rifa'i Tariqa has a notable tendency to blend worship styles or ideas

with those of other orders that predominate in the local area. For example, the group

established by Ken'an Rifa'i in Istanbul reflects elements of the Mevlevi Order, while more rural

Turkish Rifa'is have sometimes absorbed significant influence from theAlevi/Bektashi tradition.

The order spread into Anatolia during the 14th and 15th Centuries and ibn Battuta makes note

of Rifa'i 'tekkes' in central Anatolia. The order however, began to make ground in Turkey during

the 17th to 19th centuries when tekkes began to be found in Istanbul the imperial capital of

the Ottoman Empire, from here the order spread into the Balkans (especially Bosnia, where

they are still present), modern day Albania and Kosovo. During the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid

II the Rifa'i order gained even more popularity in Istanbul ranking alongside

the Khalwati, Qadiri and Naqshbandi orders as 'orthodox' Sufi orders.

Current manifestations of the order in the United States include the tekkes (lodges) inStaten

Island and Toronto that were under the guidance of the late Shaykh Xhemali Shehu (d.2004)

of Prizren, Kosovo. Each of these orders is ultimately Turkish in origin.

Practices

During heightened states, Rifa'i followers were noted to have eaten live snakes, entered ovens

filled with fire and ridden on lions.[6]Followers were also noted to have practiced charming

snakes and thrusting iron spikes and glass into their bodies.[7]

It is uncertain whether or not Ahmed ar-Rifa'i instituted the practices that helped solidify the

Rifa'i order's massive popularity. While some scholars attribute these practices to al-

Rifa'i,[8] other scholars contend he was unaware of these practices and that these were

introduced after the Mongol invasion.[9]

الرفاعية

هي طريقة صوفية سنية ينتشر اتباعها في مصر وسوريا والعراق وغرب اسيا، لهم راية باللون األسود تميزهم عن باقي الطرق الصوفية. ُتنسب إلى الفقيه الملقب بـ "أبو العلمين" و"شيخ الطرائق" (هـ 578 - هـ 512) أحمد بن علي الرفاعي ،

."و"الشيخ الكبير" و"أستاذ الجماعة

]مباديء الطريقة الرفاعية

العمل بمقتضى ظاهر الكتاب والسنة، ثم أخذ النفس بالمجاهدة والمكابدة، واإلكثار من الذكر، وقراءة تقوم الطريقة الرفاعية على

الورد، وذلك وفق إرشادات الشيخ وتوجيهاته، مع ضرورة التسليم واالنقياد له واالنصياع ألوامره. وعلى المريد أن يتمسك بالكتاب

لتزام بالسنة، وموافقة السلف الصالح على حالهم، ولباس ثوب التعرية من الدنيا والسنة ثم تعاليم الشيخ ويعمل بما قاله من اال

.والنفس، وتحمل البالء، ولبس الوقار واجتناب الجفاء

وقد اشتهر عن بعض أتباع الرفاعي حديثا القيام بأفعال عجيبة كاللعب بالثعابين، وركوب األُسود، والدخول في النيران المشتعلة

أو تؤثر فيهم، وغيرها، فهذه مما لم تكن معروفة عند الشيخ الرفاعي، لكنها اسُتحدثت بعد وفاته، وإن كان الشيخ قد دون أن تحرقهم

.ُعرف بحنانه الشديد على اإلنسان والحيوان، وكان أشد ما يكون حدًبا ورعاية للحيوانات الضالة والمريضة