Muhammad al-Bukhari
The mosque was built in 1455 on the orders of Sayf al-Din Birdibak al-Ashrafi, the "dawadar" of the Mamluk sultan Sayf al-Din Inal. Birdibak was highly religious and convened an annual conference to discuss the hadith of the 9th-century Muslim scholar Muhammad al-Bukhari. He reached high positions within the Mamluk state and built two other Friday mosques in Damascus and Cairo. The Mahkamah Mosque was originally part of a "madrasa" ("religious school"), and education served as the building's principal function. Prayers were also held regularly and on Fridays.