Mausoleum of Imam al-Shafi'i

This large domed mausoleum in the southern cemetery honors the founder of one of the four major schools of Sunni Islamic law, who died in Egypt in the ninth century. The present structure dates to the Ayyubid period and is celebrated for its immense wooden dome, one of the largest of its kind in the country, later capped by a metal crescent-topped boat. Inside, a carved wooden cenotaph sits amid inscriptions and decorated surfaces. It remains an important pilgrimage destination and a landmark of the sprawling City of the Dead.