From Makam Imam Shafi'e, we went to Masjid Sultan Hasan which was also known as the Masjid of Four Madrasah (the Masjid housed four madrasah for each of the mazhab) for the men to pray. It was Friday, after all. Kak Faridah and I watched over the kids in the mini bus. The speciality of praying was because the Imam would normally be the Mufti of Egypt, which was not the case on that particular Friday. The Masjid next to it was Masjid Rifaei which housed the tomb of the ousted Shah of Iran.
After Friday prayers, we went to Kubu Salahuddin Al-Ayubi which was huge. After paying for the entrance fee (all of us became 'students'...hehehe), we went in the compound. Inside the compound, there's a famous masjid and about 4 museums if I'm not mistaken. We only went in the military museum because we lack the time to explore all four (plus the fact we had too many kids to control...hehehe).
As we went in the compound, the kids saw the catapult...sigh. We had to walk towards the military museum where the kids went berserk over the many machine guns etc (outside of the museum). Just look at the pictures...
Can you imagine how fast they were walking?!!
Masjid Mohammad Ali Pasha...
Not just the son, the father was also interested...sigh...
All boys...
The museum was huge and I was quite happy that we decided to go there. We were shown a lot of military paraphernalia and military history, throughout the ages (Pharonic, Islamic, Modern and Present Age). We could see not only the weapons but also the uniforms and in some cases pictures and models of battles.
The Ages...
Sultan Salahuddin Al-Ayubi...
The rank in the army...
Models of Ancient Weapons...
Amir was not tall enough...hehehe
Real arsenals...
The fort was built by Salahudin Al-Ayubi to protect Cairo from being taken by the enemy. General (later Sultan) Salahuddin was famous not only in the Middle East but also in the west, where even Richard the Lionheart admired him for his chivalrous ways. They were on opposite sides during the Crusades. When he conquered Palestine, he let the enemy/christians go free, in some cases even letting them take the loot.
He was at first the Vizier of Egypt, later he became the Sultan of Egypt and Syria (after fighting many battles). He was also famous for his generosity and when he died in Damascus, he was buried in a wooden sarcophagus in a magnificent mausoleum. When Emperor Wilhem II of Germany found out, he gave a marble sarcophagus for replacement but he wasn't moved maybe out of respect for the great man.
Hadi and Amir were so happy in the museum...hehehe. Apart from meeting friends, they were also curious about the many items on display. I also learnt so many things, surprisingly. To be honest I'm not a history buff, but the way it was presented made me want to know more. It was also true that if we do not learn from history, history will repeat itself.
p/s : I've read that sometime in history, the wahabees killed other muslims because they did not follow the same teachings...sigh. Scary thought, huh?!!
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