Who was Al-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub?
Al-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub was the last of the great Ayyubid sultans in Egypt, and his years in power coincided with the rise of the Mamluks who later took over the state. In Cairo, in 641 AH, he began building the Salihiyya madrasa in Bayn al-Qasrayn on al-Muizz Street.
The madrasa taught the four Sunni schools of law and was an important step in the history of religious education in Cairo. After al-Salih died during the Crusader campaign at Mansoura, Shajar al-Durr built the domed mausoleum next to the madrasa and his body was moved there.
How did they shape Cairo?
The Salihiyya madrasa matters because it stands on a site that later became the heart of royal Mamluk architecture. Next to it rose the Qalawun complex, the madrasa of al-Nasir Muhammad and the Barquq complex, as if Bayn al-Qasrayn turned from a space of Fatimid palaces into a continuous gallery of Ayyubid and Mamluk architecture.
That is why al-Salih Najm al-Din represents an architectural and political link between two eras.
Monuments linked to Al-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub
Where to see their legacy today
In Bayn al-Qasrayn you can read the passage from the Ayyubids to the Mamluks in minutes: start at the Salihiyya madrasa, then head to the Qalawun complex, the madrasa of al-Nasir Muhammad and Barquq's complex.