🕌 Historic Cairo: Al-Imam ash-Shaf'i Necropolis
Ayyubid mausoleum honoring a foundational Islamic legal scholar
📌 Fast Facts
- Location: Southern Cemetery, Historic Cairo, Egypt
- Constructed: 1211 CE under Ayyubid Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil
- Honors: Imam Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi'i, founder of Shafi'i Islamic jurisprudence
- UNESCO inscription: 1979
The Al-Imam ash-Shaf'i Necropolis is a funerary complex in Historic Cairo's Southern Cemetery that commemorates one of Islam's four great Sunni Imams. Al-Imam ash-Shaf'i Necropolis was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979 as part of the broader Historic Cairo designation. The mausoleum, constructed in the early 13th century, replaced an earlier grave site that had accumulated centuries of pilgrimage and scholarly veneration. As of 2026, the necropolis remains an active pilgrimage ...