Sacred mosque with macabre relic
Neighborhood: Islamic Cairo
Nearest Train: Ataba
Phone: +20 (0)2 285 4509 (Tourist Information)
Fax: +20 (0)2 285 4363 (Tourist Information)
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One of the holiest mosques in Egypt, this is where the president and other dignitaries pray on special occasions. It's officially off-limits to non-Muslims, though you can peek through the door and wander around it. Inside its mausoleum is the head of Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Mohammed. Hussein was murdered in Iraq in 680 AD in the power struggle that divided Islam into two branches: Shia (those who demand a caliphate descendancy from the Prophet Mohammed) and Sunni (those who recognised the Umayyad caliphate). While Hussein is a Shia martyr, many predominantly Sunni Egyptians regard him as a saint and his annual moulid (festival) is one of the country's biggest religious events.
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