Abu el-Abbas el-Mursi Mosque from Alexandria, Egypt

The most important historic mosque in Alexandria, Egypt, as well as a very beautiful one, is considered to be that of Abu El Abbas El Mursi. Constructed in 1775 by Algerians, it was built over the tomb of the thirteenth century Murcia Andalusan saint, Ahmed Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi (Abu'l 'Abbas) who joined and then lead, as a devout Sufi, the Shadhali brotherhood. Abu El Abbas El Mursi is in himself a very interesting story.

His entire name was Sheikh Shehab El Din Abu El Abbas Ahmed Ibn Umar Ibn Mohamed Al Ansary El Mursi. He was born in Andalusia (an autonomous district of Spain, the capital of which is Seville) in 616 H (1219 AD) to a wealthy family in the trading business. He was therefore well educated, having been instructed in the Quran, Sunna and Shehab, and he grew up helping his father in the trading business. He was also known for his honesty and for his many contributions to the needy.

He left Spain with his family in 640 H (1242 AD) in the face of increasing Christian control over Spain. He was accompanied by his father, brother, and his mother. However, his parents did not make it to Tunisia, their destination. In Tunisia, Shehab heard about El Sheikh Abu El Hassan El Shazly and he accompanied him in his journey to Alexandria. Many Muslim scholars and religious people chose to live in Alexandria after the Christian began to dominate Spain. 

El Sheikh El Shazly was fond of Shehab and in return Abu al-Abbas became one of his best students. Abu al-Abbas married El Shazly’s daughter and had two daughters and a son from her. Shehab Abu El Abbas El Mursi lived 43 years in Alexandria as a Muslim teacher until he died in 686 H (1286 AD).

The site of the modern mosque has a long history. At first, it was only the tomb of Abu El Abbas El Mursi, which remains today on its original site. The tomb was placed in a small building near the eastern harbor of Alexandria.

In the year 1307 AD, El Sheikh Zein El Din Ibn El Qattan, one of the richest traders of Alexandria, visited the tomb. Reverent of the Muslim scholar, he ordered his men to build a mausoleum and a dome for the tomb. He also built a fine mosque with a small square minaret. He even funded an Iman for the small mosque. The tomb was placed under the dome to the right hand side of the entrance. The mosque became a place of pilgrimage for many Muslims from Egypt and Morocco who passes through Alexandria during their Hej journey to and from Mecca.

However, by 1477, the mosque was neglected and in bad need of repair. Therefore, when Gaqmas El Zahry, the ruler of Alexandria, visited it, he ordered that the mosque be renovated. At the same time, he built himself a tomb alongside that of Abu al-Abbas, where he also was buried after his death. Once again in 1596 AD, the mosque was renewed after a visit by Sheikh Abu al Abbas El Khurzemy, who also built himself a tomb in the complex. However, though the original structure does incorporate older elements, it was Sheikh Abu el Hassan El Maghreby who, after visiting the small mosque in 1775, ordered the building of the current one on this site.However, by 1477, the mosque was neglected and in bad need of repair. Therefore, when Gaqmas El Zahry, the ruler of Alexandria, visited it, he ordered that the mosque be renovated. At the same time, he built himself a tomb alongside that of Abu al-Abbas, where he also was buried after his death. Once again in 1596 AD, the mosque was renewed after a visit by Sheikh Abu al Abbas El Khurzemy, who also built himself a tomb in the complex. However, though the original structure does incorporate older elements, it was Sheikh Abu el Hassan El Maghreby who, after visiting the small mosque in 1775, ordered the building of the current one on this site. 

Nevertheless, by 1863, the current mosque was in a bad state once more, unfit for holding prayer services. Therefore, Ahmed El Kakhakhny, one of Alexandria's most famous builders, renewed the current mosque and afterwards, a number of the houses that were built up around the mosque were removed to make more space. Afterwards, Ali Mubarak, and educational leader in Egypt, described it as, "wide, strong, and fine looking and the practice of Islam is being done there in its best manner." By now, the mosque was operated under the Awqaf (Waqf), a governmental endowment for Islamic affairs, which provided Imans as well as caretakers. A mulid, or Islamic religious festival was also established to celebrate the birth of Abu El Abbas, which lasted eight days every year.

King Farouk, whose aim it was to build Cairo into the Paris on the Nile, also sought to make Alexandria the Jewel of the Mediterranean. There, he built a wide square known as "Midan el Masaged", or the "Square of Mosque" covering some 43,200 square meters. The Mosque of Abu el Abbas el Mursi was the focal point and center of this square, and it is surrounded by five other mosques, among which is that of al-Busiri and Yaqut al- 'Arshi. As part of this building program, the mosque was once again rebuilt by the government in the beautiful Arabian style that was popular during the Ayyubid Period, the time when Abu El Abbas El Mursi first came to Alexandria from Spain. They also paid special attention to the mausoleum of the saint during these renovations, leaving it in its original position.

This was a major rebuilding of the mosque. The walls of the mosque stand 23 meters high and dressed in artificial stone, while the minaret, situated on the southern side, rises to 73 meters. It has an Ayoubids design, with four sections. The first section is about 15 meters high and square in shape. The second one is four meters high with eight sides. The third level is about 15 high with sixteen sides, while the uppermost level is 3.25 meters high with a circular shape. The top of the minaret is covered with brass and and has an Islamic moon finale.

The mosque has two main entrances. The one on the north overlooks the square and faces the street leading to the Royal Palace of Ras at-tin. The eastern door also overlooks the square. The stairs of the entrances are made of Egyptian granite.

The main part of the mosque, internally, is an octagon, with sides measuring 22 meters. The internal walls are also dressed in artificial stone, though there is a mosaic dada 5.60 meters high. The entire area of the mosque is 3000 square meters. The ceiling, supported by sixteen columns made of Italian granite which in turn support arches, soars 17.20 overhead. The ceilings are decorated with arabesque.

The columns are solid, or monolithic, including their capital and base. They are octagonal in shape, measuring .85 meters in diameter and 8.60 meters in height. In the center of the ceiling is an elevated skylight with eight sides, known as a Shokhsheikha, that is 24 meters above floor level and 51 meters side. Each side of the skylight actually has three windows of colored glass in arabesque designs, set into aluminum frames. This skylight is surrounded by four domes, placed over the four mausoleums within the complex. The domes have an inner and outer layer. The inner one forming the ceiling stand 22 meters high, and are 5 meters in diameter. The upper domes measure 7.5 meters in diameter and stand 11 meters above the lower domes. The floors are paved in white marble.

The doors, minbar and windows are made of joined and finely carved teak, citronia and walnut. The minbar is 6.35 meters high, capped by a dome, and has verses of Quran written at the top in French gold. The mihrab of the mosque, located in the Qibla wall, stands at the base of the mosque's minaret. It is flanked by two columns of Egyptian granite measuring three meters in height. At the end of each column, the name of Mohamed is written in the Kufic style of Arabic writing. The main rule in Islam, ”There is no god except Allah and Mohamed is the prophet of Allah,” is written twice, also flanking the mihrab.

The mayda, an absolution area, along with the lavatories, are arranged on the western side of the mosque with their own entrance that overlooks the square.

According to a Royal desire, the necessary alterations were made to reserve special quarters for women, with a private entrance, in order that they can perform their religious rites. The Ministry of Waqfs completed the construction of the mosque at the beginning of 1943 at a total cost of about 140,000 LE. It would seem that this amount of funds paid for a very exquisitely beautiful monument that stands as a lasting memory to Alexandria's most beloved Muslim saint.

The gift of Allah

Ancient Egyptians, depending on their wealth and status, could have a varied diet, but central to their nourishment was bread and beer. From very early on, both were consumed at every meal, by everyone, and no meal was considered complete without them. Bread, nutritionally, provided protein, starch and trace nutrients, and it also played much the same role as beer in the Egyptian economy as well as in cult rituals. However, some flour caused severe abrasion of the teeth particularly among those who depended upon bread as their main source of nourishment. But this affected all classes and even Amenhotep III suffered badly from such problems.

Bread was made from a variety of ingredients, though often only a specific species of wheat was thought best (Triticum aestivum), though almost any cereal was suitable. Depending on the type of flour, the structure and texture of a loaf could be very different, and just as today, all breads were not light, risen or spongy.

Thankfully, the climate of Egypt, which is very arid in many locations, is responsible for preserving a rich record of organic materials, including bread loaves. Hundreds of specimens have survived, mostly from funerary offerings that have found their way into the museums of the world. These even include fragments from Predynastic graves of the Badarian culture. Talk about stale! These loaves are over five thousand years old.

These ancient loaves, though a direct source of evidence about ancient Egyptian bread and baking, have actually not been studied much by modern scholars. Hence, though many breads and cakes are known from historical documents, their distinguishing features are in fact unknown. Some scholars have suggested that pesen-bread was a flat round loaf, not unlike that found in Egypt today. However, preserved loaves have shown that breads of the same shape were not always made from the same ingredient or the same recipe and, therefore, may not have been known by the same name. For example, extant hand-formed conical loaves were frequently made from emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccum), though one known specimen was made mostly from figs (Ficus carica). At the same time, various shapes and textures of bread could also be made from the same batch of dough.

We mostly know the process of baking from the evidence of artistic scenes in which it is depicted. For example, one of the best examples comes from a relief in a 5th Dynasty tomb at Saqqara belonging to Ti. However, there are also Old Kingdom statuettes that portray baking activities. Middle Kingdom models, notably from the tomb of Meketra, also provide some details, as well as give us a idea of a busy, robust bakery. Also, several tombs at Beni Hasan contain bread-making scenes, and at least one other is found in the New Kingdom wall paintings of Nebamun's tomb on the West Bank of Thebes (modern Luxor).

The preparations for making bread in Ancient Egypt were somewhat more difficult that in our modern times, principally because of the distinctive nature of their staple wheat, emmer, which differs in some properties from most modern wheat used to make bread. Emmer was used into the Ptolamic Period. Today, typical bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) has ears that easily separate into chaff and grain when threshed. The traditional process for processing it uses winnowing and sieving to remove the chaff from the grain.

However, emmer requires more extensive processing, which at least in families was usually performed by women. Usually, only enough grain was ground at one time to fill the needs of a day's meals.

After threshing, it breaks into packets called spikelets, each of which is a thick envelope of chaff that tightly surround two kernels. Prior to winnowing and sieving to clean the chaff from the kernels, a process is needed to break the chaff apart without damaging the grain.

From various research and experimental evidence, we do have some idea of the procedures employed to processes the spikelets by the ancient Egyptians. We believe that whole spikelets were moistened with a small amount of water and than pounded with wooden pestles in limestone mortars. Since the water made the spikelets pliable, the chaff could be shredded without crushing the grain kernels inside. This was not a time consuming process, although the ancient Egyptian mortars were usually small and several batches of spikelets had to be processed before enough freed kernels were produced to make bread for even a family. Even after this added process, the released grain kernels and broken chaff then had to be tried, probably under the sun. Afterwards, it went through a series of winnowing steps, and sieving, The sieves made from rushes and the like were not very efficient and allowed grains of sand and little flakes of stone to remain in the flour, especially when soft mill stones were used. In fact, the last step in the process was the removal of final fragments of chaff which were picked out by hand.

Next, the the whole grain was milled into flour, usually using a flat grinding stone known as a saddle quern. From Neolithic times through the Old Kingdom, these grinding stones were placed on the floor, which made the process difficult. However, tombs scenes of the Middle Kingdom show the querns raised onto platforms, called quern emplacements. Some of these have been excavated at a few New Kingdom sites. They made life much easier, and probably made the work quicker as well. Modern experimentation with these devices has shown that no grit was required to aid the milling process, as has sometimes been suggested by scholars, and the the texture of the flour could be precisely controlled by the miller. 

Baking also evolved over ancient Egypt's long history. Excavation of a bakery dating to the Old Kingdom at Giza evidences that heavy pottery bread molds were set in rows on a bed of embers to bake the dough placed within them. By the Middle Kingdom, square hearths were used, and the pottery moulds were altered into tall, narrow, almost cylindrical cones. Then, by the New Kingdom, a new oven was introduced with a large, open-clay cylinder encased in thick mud bricks and mortar. The flat disks of dough, perhaps leavened, were slapped onto the pre heated inner oven wall. When baked, they peeled off and were caught before they could fall into the embers below.

Bread loaves are especially numerous in tombs of the New Kingdom, and are not limited as to size, shape or decorations. In fact, some loaves were formed into recognizable shapes, such as fish and human figures. Others were not as fancy, taking simple shapes such as disks and fans. The dough textures of these loaves range from very fine to mealy, mostly only indicating the people, as today, probably had preferences in the type of bread they liked to eat. Whole or coarsely cracked cooked grains were often added, creating a texture not unlike modern multigrain breads. Emmer flower was almost always used for these loaves. Barley (Hordeum vulgare) was very rarely used in these bread loaves, and the amount that does show up is in such small amounts that it may have accidentally gotten into the mix. Somtimes, the sour dough left over from the previous day might be added, or some barm from the last time beer was brewed. There were flavorings, such as coriander seeds (Coriandrum sativum), honey, butter, eggs, oil an herbs, as well as fruits such as dates (Phoenix dactylifera) which were occasionally added. Yeast might also be added to some recipes, but leavening was not always used.

Seemingly, brad flavored with more exotic ingredients were probably only infrequently available to the poorer classes of Egyptians, though more research is needed to determine what breads were available to the various social classes. Unfortunately, funerary loaves comprise most of our evidence of early breads, which might not be representative of the day-to-day variety. However, the remains of cereal-processing equipment and baking installations at settlements sites has provided some evidence for the preparation of ancient Egyptian bread, and these sites may yet yield up more typical loaves.

Egypt - The Mother of the World - part I

 Bismillahi Rahmanu Rahim!

Once upon a time, there was a land where the Sun was sacred! That land was Egypt! Today, Egyptians offer you their most precious treasure: the Sun! Egypt - where all begins! Nothing compares to Egypt! Egypt - Mother of the World!

I just love this video so much and I was thinking to share it here...  Today I want to describe Egypt - Masr - Om el Donya...

When I speak to someone about Egypt, I see that people get fascinated... but they are like this because they see Egypt from the side of curiosity, from the side of a tourist... people who don't actually feel the soul of Egypt, can't reach the heart of this country.

My beloved husband call me "the daughter of Egypt" "enty benty Masr"... he knows and understands, as also he is not jealous at all because my heart was kidnapped 20 years before I met him, by Egypt. Therefore, he is so proud with this, as he is with my knowledge and reading about Islam, years before we found each other. 

When I speak about Egypt, I get confused and I have millions of ideas in my mind how to describe it. Some are seeing Egypt as the land of pharaohs, the place of the pyramids, and Sphinx, sand and dust, Red Sea and the resorts from there... for someones Egypt is similar with the best vacation they had or with the riding of a camel... 

Others see Egypt as a country of Third World, so poor and dirty and after they have the chance to see it once, they came back to their ordinary life with the idea: "Egypt - yeah... so much dirty there and omg... did you notice the smell from the streets? and those people how they live??? horrible"... 

None of the situations above don't actually contain the view with the heart, the view with the soul, as a simple person... not the tourist who comes and goes, who's unique desire is to have a real "cool" story to say it when he returns home! Visiting a place, even if it is or not Egypt, has nothing to do with the thing "to be cool"! You can be "cool" too even if you feel and breath the feeling and the soul of the places you walk, you can be "cool" even if you stop a moment to admire and see what others can only imagine and hope that one day, they will see!

 

Allah have granted me the possibility to visit many countries from Europe before I reach Egypt... I still remember when I first visited Le Chateau Versailles - I was 19 years old... the minute we entered inside and I saw the beauty from there, my heart was like stopping... I could hardly breath... I was looking to all the amazing things creating by humans hands and keep thinking that Allah gave us the possibility to create beauty, as also the possibility to destroy it! 

When we reached Nothe Dame and Sacre Coeur, my eyes and my entire body were swimming in tears and keep thanking to my parents, to Allah - that they have made this dream possible for me! I still remember even now how my father was so proud to hear that the high school selected me to represent the city in France to the IUFM Arras - L'Institute des Maitres" - my father did everything that time to make sure I will be there!

After this first chance to see the world with my eyes, Allah gave me other opportunities and one of the most precious is the one when I first visit Egypt.

 

The first thing I remember from that trip is the people from outside the airport after I arrived. I keep see in my mind not the clear images, but many people dressed in white clothes, brown or black and from one place to another, a spot of blue or green or red color... the spots were the women... Little voices you could hear all the parts - kids jumping next to their parents... taxi drivers who were asking you if you need a cab or not, hopping to have a new customer, so that at the end of the day, to return home with some pounds... they know that the tourists can be generous, especially the Europeans and they count on this!

It is impossible not to feel as soon you get out of the airport, the hot dry wind of the Egypt and the power of his ancient God - RA! No wonder that in Antiquity the ancient Egyptians were seeing the sun as their God - RA and were so happy that they are blessed by His gifts.

 As soon I got in the cab, my mind relaxed again and I started to enjoy the view. Some of you could think that what view??? Sand and Dust? well YES! for some.. but for me was more!I was following the line of the road with my eyes and watching the sides to see behind the dunes... I was keep thinking all the time to the wonder of those sand mountains and how that the powerful wind was not vanishing them from years... Because the wind is so powerful!!!!

When I reached the hotel, I remember that the manager, an Italian lady was waiting for me and I was amazed to see a non local actually living and working there and feeling so good!!! But more amazed I was when I heard her speaking Arabic with the employees and give them particular requests!And I can tell now after years, that she is not the only one! 

When I was entering in a fruit shop (I am crazy about fruits!!!), the seller from there was always having with him 2 little assistants: his 2 little boys, all contrary with what I was hearing before - that women are the only ones who take care of the kids and are the only ones responsible for them! The kids were so shy, but with really good manners.

All the parts I was going, you could see all kinds of people: from tourists to locals Egyptians as non locals too... in every shop you enter, even you don't actually buy something, the seller was thanking you for visiting his shop:"shokran ya oustez/ shokran ya anisa". I hear many times from the tourists who went in Egypt that the sellers were after them to make them buy something from them... well... I wonder if those tourists ever informed before how to avoid these situations and what to say to sellers (we don't speak about the sellers from the stores, but from the ones near to the touristic points - pyramids, Sphinx, etc). 

Believe me, it is enough to say a simple "No, thank you sir" or "La/a, shokran ya ustez" and they will not continue to bother you! After all, no matter how poor they are many of the Egyptians, all of them possessed the Egyptian proud! Also, we have to think that this people are living from the trade with tourists and to sell their products, they just can't stay like statues and wait, maybe a tourist will go and buy something from them! I mean... let's face it... if you see a local Egyptian sellerr and you are for the first time in Egypt... would you just run to him to buy quick souvenirs? Me I was not knew what to do first and where to go first! 

Tourists are the "kawaaga"... the ones who come to see Egypt and take a part of Egypt with them when they return... because Egypt leaves marks in everyone of us, after we saw it! And some of us, wish and pray to come back...

Speaking about wishing... I remember that I found a fountain and I dropped a coin on it, wishing from all my heart to come back in one year! AlhamdulilAllah, it happen and after one year I returned in Egypt, that time as the fiancee and the future wife of my beloved husband.

To tell you the truth, when I was in France... I dropped coins in all the fountains from Versailles and Paris, wishing to come back... but  don't think I actually did it with the wish in my heart! I did it because I saw others doing this thing and I said..."Me too"...

When I returned in Egypt, this time I was seeing the Egypt from other side... as a future local from there... as a future wife of an Egyptian... many of you could think that the first trip in Egypt was the one who bring together me and my husband... As a matter of fact... it was Allah's hands and our destiny... because nothing guarantees you that a true friendship can turn into real love and a blessed marriage! But that time... none of us was searching to get married and sure not with a foreigner... 

The man that is my husband he was actually having my destiny in his hands from years before he knew me... my destiny locked in a stone... jade stone... When I look now to the jade necklace, I see on it my past, my present and my future...

Egypt was preparing my destiny from far away... I can look back and see a little girl carrying a huge book in french language about ancient Egypt... I look back and I see a teenager drawing Egyptian antique images... I look back and I see a young lady devouring documentaries and movies about Egypt from yesterday and Egypt of today... I can loo back and I can see a sleepy student reading about the Mystery of Egypt... I look back and I see me... 

But when I look to now and in front, I see US together... I see family...

Egypt has everything what you can find in all the other countries and even more! Egypt has luxury and poverty, technology and rudimentary ways, Egypt has cleaning and dirty, sand and dust as also so good roads, good people as bad ones, children, women and men, old and young people, hard workers and lazy ones, single and married, divorced, Muslims, Christians and other Non Muslims ... shortly Egypt has everything that could make you feel home or stranger... it depends on the eyes of the one who see Egypt and on each one of us way to feel the breathing of this country! And lately Egypt got back something so precious: Freedom!

Above of this, I can tell you for sure that for the Egyptians, the dust of Egypt is much more precious than anything in this world!

Ya Masr Om el Donya!

If my life would end tomorrow... and if I knew this today...

If for a moment, Allah/God would forget that I am just a rag doll and HE would give me as a gift a piece of life, I would take advantage of it as much as possible I could.

Probably I would not say what I think, but certainly I would think before I say something. I would give value to things, not for what its represent, but rather for what it means.

Maybe I would get just some sleep, sure I would dream more, knowing that for every minute we close our eyes, we lose sixty seconds of light. I go where others stop, I would wake when others sleep. 

If God would give me just a few more days to live, I would dress with simplicity, I'd long with my belly on the ground, sticking with my body and soul of the earth. I would show people how much they are wrong thinking that they cease to love when they get older, without knowing that when they cease to love, actually they are getting older.

To a child I would give him wings, but I let him learn to fly alone. The old ones I would teach them that death comes not with old age, but rather with the forgetting.

I live between people and I learn everyday... I wish I could have time to learn more... I wish I did this before when time for me seemed to be an endless space.

I learned that a person has no right to look with superiority to another one, except when this person is helping the other to raise up.

Say always what you feel and do what you think!

For my beloved husband

If I knew that today is the last time I see you falling asleep, I would hug you strongly in my arms and I would ask Allah to watch over your soul!

If I know that these are the last minutes I see you, I would tell you I LOVE YOU and I ignore it, ashamed, the fact that you already know it.

There is always a 'tomorrow' and life gives us another opportunity to do things right, but if I am wrong and this is the last day we have left, I would like to tell you how much I LOVE YOU and I'll never forget you!

  

Tomorrow is not guaranteed to anyone, young or old. Today could be the last time you see your loved ones. Do not wait, act now, because it is possible that "tomorrow" never comes and surely you will regret the day that you have not made time for a smile, a hug, a kiss and you was too busy to address your loved ones one last wish.

Keep in touch with those you love, whisper to their ear that you need them, love them and care for them, take time to tell them 'I understand you', 'forgive me ',' please ',' thank you 'and all other words of love that you know.

Nobody will remember you for your secret thoughts. Ask Allah for strength and wisdom to express what you think.

Prove your friends and your beloved ones how much they mean for you!

 With love for my husband,

With friendship for my friends,

Kadreyah