Celebrating the dead in Ayyubid Egypt : a survey into meaning and architectural manifestation

Abstract EN

Although the commemoration of the dead is a universal and a long-standing tradition, early Islam is widely known to have resisted it.

After a relatively long period of observing prevention, such an antique practice nonetheless found its way to Islamic culture.

It is true that celebrating the dead was introduced to the realm of Islam before the Slu'T Fatimids founded their caliphate in Tunisia in 296/909, but it was under them that this praxis reached the zenith.

The Fatimids were succeeded by the Ayyubids who, m spite of being a zealous Sunn! dynasty, upheld the tradition of celebrating the departed notables, particularly the pious ones {awliya').

The aim in this paper is to explore how such a practice, which is widely deemed unorthodox in the eye of Sunni Islam, was maintained in Egypt under the Ayyubids (567/1172-648/1250).

In particular, the paper attempts to give an insight into: (i) the types of the dead dignitaries that were celebrated under the Ayyubids; (ii) the features that must be existing in their biographies so as to be canonized—in the Islamic sense; (iii) the architectural expressions that were employed to celebrate their memory; (iv) and the meaning of such a procedure.