Sultan Hassan mosque
The Sultan Hassan mosque is not only a mosque but also a Madrasa, which is Arabic for school
It is a beautiful mosque in the style of early Mameluk architecture in Cairo. The mosque was built in 1356-1363.
The much troubled Sultan Hassan came to the throne when he was 13 years old, was deposed and reappointed three times
Unfortunately, he was murdered just before the mosque was finished, his body was never found, so he was not buried in the mosque.
His sons are buried there though, in the back part of the mosque.
Behind the entrance is a dark corridor and it opens into an open area. Here are 4 rooms called iwans and here were the Qur’anic lessons.
The eastern iwan is the Mihab
A bronze door on the right leads to the room where Sultan Hassan’s sons are buried.
Sultan al-Nasir Hasan (full name: An-Nasir Badr ad-Din Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn Qalawun) ascended the throne at the age of 13 in 748 AH/1347 CE. When he came of age in 1350, he arrested the emir Manjaq who controlled all state affairs.
Prior to that arrest, the emir was limited to an allowance of only one hundred dirhams per day.
This change was collected by servants for the sultan.
It is especially striking considering that the Emir Shaykhu at that time had an estimated income of 200,000 dirhams per day.
This hardship can be seen as a trigger for his later extravagance. When Sultan Hasan took over the reins,
he placed people of his own favor in positions of power. This happened at the expense of the current dignitaries;
it upset many of them. Disgruntled emirs arrested the sultan in 1351,
held him captive for three years and promoted his brother as-Salih Salih to the throne.
Hasan spent his time in prison studying and his obituaries commented on his knowledge as a result.
Umari, a Mamluk thought he was loyal.
Due to the sultan’s extravagance in spending fortunes on women and other forms of favoritism,
the commander rebelled against the sultan. A contemporary Syrian historian, Ibn Kathir, supported this reputation.
