Shuhada () is a city and corresponding

markaz Markaz may refer to: Organisations * The Markaz, formerly the Levantine Cultural Center, a religious cultural center in West Los Angeles, California * Markazu Saqafathi Sunniyya, a university in Kerala, India * Markaz Knowledge City, a city ...

Monufia Governorate Monufia ( ' ) is one of the governorates of Egypt. Monufia’s name was derived from the hieroglyphic word “Nafr”, which means “The Good Land”. It is located in the northern part of the country in the Nile Delta, to the south of Gharbia ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. As of 2019, its estimated population is 358,486, with 72,895 people living in urban areas and 285,591 living in rural areas.

Name and history

The name "''al-shuhada''" means "the martyrs", referring to the presence of the shrines of martyrs of the

Islamic conquest of Egypt The Arab conquest of Egypt, led by the army of Amr ibn al-As, took place between 639 and 642 AD and was overseen by the Rashidun Caliphate. It ended the seven-century-long Roman period in Egypt that had begun in 30 BC and, more broadly, the Grec ...

. The most prominent of these is the shrine of Sidi Shibl, said to be the son of the Companion Fadl ibn al-Abbas. Other tombs of martyrs are located in the same complex, including one called "Sidi al-Arba'in", or "the holy forty", as well as the "Sab'a banat", or "seven girls", traditionally held to be Sidi Shibl's seven sisters. Sidi Shibl's shrine is one of the most important pilgrimage destinations in the Nile Delta. It takes place one week before the

mawlid The Mawlid () is an annual festival commemorating the birthday of the Islamic prophet Muhammad on the traditional date of 12 Rabi' al-Awwal, the third month of the Islamic calendar. A day central to the traditions of some Sunnis, Mawlid is al ...

Ahmad al-Badawi Aḥmad el-Badawī (, ), also known as Elsayyid Elbadawī ( ), or as Elsayyid for short, or reverentially as Elsayyid Elbadawi by Sufi Muslims who venerate saints, was a 13th-century Arab Sufi Muslim mystic who became famous as the founder o ...

Tanta Tanta ( ' ) is a city in Egypt. Tanta had a population of 658,798 in 2018, making it the fifth most populous city in Egypt. Tanta is located between Cairo and Alexandria: north of Cairo and southeast of Alexandria. The capital of Gharbia Gove ...

. Nothing is known of Shuhada before the end of the Mamluk period. It had emerged as a local religious site by 916 AH (1510-11 CE), when rizaq registers mention it (under the name "Kafr al-Shuhada") as having an oratory and zawiya, with the term "zawiya" in this case presumably being used to refer to the tomb of Sidi Shibl. This is the earliest known veneration of Sidi Shibl's tomb. However, at this early stage, it was only a local religious center. Pilgrims are documented at this point coming from the neighboring village of Salamun, but not from further away. Moreover, contemporary hagiographies of the Tanta mawlid do not mention Shuhada or Sidi Shibl, indicating the local nature of its religious significance. The growth of Shuhada as a religious center dates to the first half of the 17th century. 17th century Egypt in general saw a booming interest in veneration of Sufi saints through mawlids and hagiographies, and Shuhada's growth as a pilgrimage site largely coincides with that trend. The Sufi saint Ahmad al-Ahmadi al-Misri, better known as al-Suhaymi, played an important role in popularizing the Shuhada mawlid over a larger region. Suhaymi, who died in 1043 AH (1633-34 CE), built a mosque next to the existing shrine and settled there to recite the

Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...

and train disciples. When he died, in accordance with his wishes, he was buried in a tomb next to Sidi Shibl's. A rizqa was assigned to finance Suhaymi's tomb soon after, in 1059 AH (1649 CE), reflecting his influence as a holy man as far away as

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

. Shuhada prospered thereafter. As early as 1715, the larger town of Sirsina was called "Sirsina wa al-Shuhada", and by 1844, Shuhada had become a

nahiyah A nāḥiyah ( , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiyeh, nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level divisi ...

(village), rather than the hamlet it had been in earlier periods. In 1846, the mosque was renovated at the behest of a local notable named Hasan Agha Sha'ir; the minister of

waqf A (; , plural ), also called a (, plural or ), or ''mortmain'' property, is an Alienation (property law), inalienable charitable financial endowment, endowment under Sharia, Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot ...

in Egypt designated it as ''rabi' II'' on 10 August 1899. The

1885 Census of Egypt Events January * January 3–January 4, 4 – Sino-French War – Battle of Núi Bop: French troops under General Oscar de Négrier defeat a numerically superior Qing dynasty, Qing Chinese force, in northern Vietnam. * January 1 ...

recorded El-Shuhada as a

under the district of

Menouf Menouf (, from ) is a city in Egypt located in the Nile Delta. It has an area of 18.76 square kilometers. The city gave name to the Monufia Governorate that it is located in and it was the capital of the governorate until 1826. Menouf is one of th ...

; at that time, the population of the town was 2,873 (1,368 men and 1,505 women). In 1925, the minister of waqf had the mosque renovated again, as well as enlarged. In 1927, the mosque received a full inauguration which was attended by king Fu'ad I. In 1941, Shuhada became the district center (markaz), replacing Sirsina, which by now had become a village suburb of Shuhada.

References

{{Reflist Populated places in Monufia Governorate