Al Emam El Hussein Mosque
Al Emam El Hussein Mosque is a major historic mosque and religious shrine in Cairo’s Al-Hussein district, beside Khan Al-Khalili and close to Al-Azhar Mosque. The site traces its foundation to the Fatimid period in 549 AH / 1154 CE, when a shrine was established under the supervision of the vizier Al-Salih Tala'i. Egyptian official sources record a long-standing tradition that the shrine contains the head of Imam Hussein ibn Ali, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad; this should be understood as a religious and historical tradition rather than an independently established archaeological fact. The complex underwent major changes over the centuries: Khedive Ismail ordered its reconstruction and enlargement in 1862, the present mosque was completed in 1873, and its Ottoman-style minaret followed in 1878. The mosque remains an important place of worship and a prominent landmark of historic Cairo.