Friday 15 January 2010

Egypt : Makam Imam Shafi'e...

From Masjid Amr Al-As. we went to Makam Imam Shafi'e. First, Afzan pointed out to us that instead of the normal moon and star on top of the minaret, it was a ship (bahtera). If I'm not mistaken, one of the reasons was that Imam Shafi'e was a great traveller.

He was born in Gaza in 150 AH to a poor mother. He was a great learner, even though he did not have enough money to pay for his education, he would be sitting near the class and absorb everything. He was so good that the teacher gave him free tuition. He was so excellent that when the teacher was not around, he took over the lesson. Some say he went to Mekah and Madinah to learn.

One of his famous teachers was Imam Maliki himself. Imam Shafi'e was well respected in Egypt and founded Mazhab Shafi'e. When he died, his funeral was not only attended by the ruler of Egypt but the ruler himself lead the prayers. He died in 204 AH, aged around 54 years old.

The minaret...

It's not the normal moon and star...

Inside, we saw not just one tomb, but three. The other two was of his followers if I'm not mistaken. We went on a Friday, so there was several visitors there as well. The atmosphere was hushed (we tried our best to hush the kids, anyway...hehehe).

What attracted me was the many things people put on the tomb. It was surrounded by a grilled fence, but some people put flowers in between the spaces. The funny thing was that people also put fresh cabbages... yep, cabbage?!! Well, maybe that was the only thing that they had...sigh.

Beautiful carvings...

Well-preserved tomb...

Another interesting thing was the pillar where Imam Shafi'e teaches was still standing until now. People say when he was alive, he would rest his back upon the pillar when teaching... We also took turns to 'rest' our backs on that pillar...hehehe

Junaidi and 4 of is daughters...

Things that people threw inside the tomb...

The tomb of Imam Shafi'e...

The tomb of his follower...

That woman was crying...

The entrance...

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