Alexandria
Bishr ibn al-Husayn, of the family of Bishr al-Jawhari, came on foot from the Maghreb to Alexandria early in the sixth century AH. Scholars sought him out for…
Bishr ibn al-Husayn, of the family of Bishr al-Jawhari, came on foot from the Maghreb to Alexandria early in the sixth century AH. Scholars sought him out for his knowledge of hadith and fiqh, and the hadith master al-Silafi attended his sermons, which he called moving and firmly argued. He later withdrew to a hill on a lonely stretch of coast east of the city, where he passed away in 528 AH (1134). His followers built a shrine over his grave on the hill above the sea, and the village that grew up around it bears his name, Sidi Bishr. The mosque around the shrine was built as the city spread east in the late nineteenth century. Its white stone walls, green-lit dome and minaret stand just back from the Corniche, and his admirers still gather for his annual celebration.