Set right at the heart of the Hussein district of Cairo, there is no excuse not to visit the mausoleum complex of Sultan Qalawun. If you are looking for a family excursion in Ramadan, then this is the place that can both entertain and inspire you and leave you marvelling at some of the past achievements of Islam. The ruins of the hospital alone, which is a part of the complex, was once a wonder of the Islamic world. Bought as a slave at the age of twenty for the remarkably high price of one thousand dinars, Sultan Al-Mansur Seif Al-Din Qalawun came to the throne in 1280 AD. During his reign, he defeated both the Christian and Mongol armies and founded a dynasty that would last for one hundred years. His mausoleum complex remains one of the greatest achievements of Mamluke architecture and even to this day manages to leave visitors breathless as they first see it from afar. Qalawun's mausoleum is part of the three monumental complexes that lie on the western side of Al-Mui'zz Street, north of Khan Al-Khalili. The others were built by his son, Sultan An-Nasir Muhammad, and by the founder of the Circassian Mamluke dynasty, Sultan Barquq. This part of Mediaeval Cairo was once known as Bayn Al-Qasrayn (“between the two palaces"), since the street was the main thoroughfare that led through the two great Fatimid palaces of the time. In fact, in 1283 Qalawun bought the land and in the following year began construction of his complex over the ruins of a former Fatimid palace. Hundreds of Mongol prisoners of war were used in its construction, as well as anyone unlucky enough to be passing by at the time! The whole project took just over one year to complete. Given that the recent restoration project, using the very latest in modern equipment and techniques, took ten years it shows what an extraordinary feat of engineering this was at the time. The complex consists of three distinct parts. The hospital, or “maristan," was the first part to be built and took six months to complete. Next came the mausoleum, then the school (or “madrassa"), each taking four months. When you step into the magnificent interior of Qalawun's mausoleum, with its marble, mosaics, painted and gilded wood, stucco and granite, just pause to reflect that all of this was done in just sixteen weeks. Just before you enter, to the left, is a sabil (fountain), built by Qalawun's son, An-Nasir Muhammad. Entering the complex from the street, you enter at once into a passageway, ten metres high, that separates the mausoleum, to your right, from the madrassa on your left. Carefully restored and now sensitively lit, even the passageway itself is grand and impressive. With typical Mamluke ingenuity, the building is built square onto the street, but manages to adjust itself once inside to accommodate the Qibla direction. In other words, by a clever engineering device, this meant that worshippers could pray in the direction of Mecca without other worshippers and passers by walking in front of them. A vast dome covers Sultan Qalawun's mausoleum. The present dome, made entirely of concrete, was built as late as 1908 to replace an eighteenth century dome that had itself replaced the mediaeval original. The octagonal base of the dome is transformed into a circle by vast wooden beams. Looking up into the dome is to see one of the splendours of Mamluke Cairo. Historians suggest that the granite columns in this mausoleum were taken from a Fatimid palace on the island of Rhoda, where five star hotels and some of the faculties of Cairo University now stand. In fact, this space is so impressive that it was used for many years as the place of investiture of each new sultan. Just imagine, when you visit with your children, all the pomp and splendour of the Mamluke Court gathered here in this magnificent place. Even in all their silk and gold, the courtiers would still have looked insignificant compared to their surroundings. On the left hand side of the entrance passageway, large windows with iron grilles give you a glimpse into the madrassa. Much more than a school, the mediaeval madrassa was a place where the four legal schools of Islamic Shariah, or madhabs, were taught, as well as hadith and medicine. The madrassa is the largest part of the complex to have survived. At one time, the large courtyard of the madrassa would have been paved with polychrome marble. If you get the chance to see it, there is scale model of what the whole complex would have looked like in the small chamber which serves as the entrance to the mausoleum. Although little remains to this day, since it was demolished in 1910, the hospital was the crowning glory of the whole complex. Once famous throughout the entire Muslim world, visitors to Cairo would come to see it as one of the sights of the city. How those modern critics of Islam, with their allegations of backwardness, would be silenced if only they could visit this place. With a capacity of up to four thousand patients per day, the hospital was the last word in patient care. When Paris and London were still collections of timber dwellings, fountains and musicians greeted those visiting the hospital. As well as free medicines and treatment, there was fresh linen, fresh beds and hot food available free of charge. With a special ward for women, the hospital had a Master Doctor, a surgeon and an ophthalmologist always on call. Muslims read in the holy Quran: “It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces towards east or West; but it is righteousness to believe in Allah, and the Last Day and the Angels and the Book and the Messengers; to spend of your substance, Out of love for Him, for your kin, for orphans, for the needy, For the wayfarer, for those who ask, and for the ransom of slaves........." (2:177) At the recent opening ceremony of the London Olympics, Britain's National Health Service was presented as one of the marvels of the modern age, with medical treatment being provided from the cradle to the grave. All of those visitors to the Olympics need only to have visited Egypt to see that Islam was providing this in Cairo over seven hundred years ago! In his work of bridge building between peoples, in April 2012 Idris Tawfiq visited Nicosia and was received in audience by His Beatitude Chrysostomos II, Archbishop of Nova Justiniana and All Cyprus. A teacher at Al-Azhar University, Idris Tawfiq is the author of nine books about Islam. You can visit his website at www.idristawfiq.com
