Al-Azhar Mosque: (969-72) The royal congregational mosque of al-Qahira, reached from the Eastern Palace via a succession of passages used only by the caliph and his entourage. Founded in 969 and dedicated in 972 by al-Mu‘izz, the mosque evolved to become the religious center of Egypt and the most celebrated theological college in the Islamic world.
Jawhar al-Siqilli, the commander of the Fatimid army, lays the foundation of the mosque of al-Qahira (later al-Azhar ). First Friday prayer held at the mosque. First organized teaching at al-Azhar, 35 scholars are housed nearby and paid by the Fatimid state to teach the Isma‘ili doctrine. Caliph al-Hakim establishes a waqf for the mosque. First renovation of the mosque by caliph al-Amir. 1129: Caliph al-Hafiz refurbishes the mosque and adds the four porticoes around the courtyard with their keel-arches.
Ya‘qub ibn Killis: The vizier and able administrator of al-‘Aziz
and the designer of early Fatimid processions. He formalized the role of the
imam as the supreme head of the community. He was also the first to regularize
the educational function of the congregational mosque in Cairo.
Al-Hakim bi Amr Allah: (996-1021) The third Fatimid caliph in Egypt
and perhaps the most enigmatic and most controversial.
Al-Hakim Mosque: Built between 990 and 1003 just outside the walls of
al-Qahira, and named after
al-Hakim, the third Fatimid caliph in Egypt.
The Mosque of al-Lu’lu’a: (1015-16) One of many small mosques
on the Muqattam cliff attributed to al-Hakim.
Waqf: Endowment deed. In the medieval period, rulers and dignitaries endowed charitable structures in perpetuity both for pious and social reasons. The waqf was the premier system for the support of the public, religious, and educational institutions in all Islamic lands. The majority of the great institutions in Cairo until the nineteenth century were sustained by waqfs.