The mosque was built on the site of old Mamluk buildings
in Cairo's Citadel between 1830 and 1848, although not completed until the reign of Said Pasha in 1857.
The architect was Yusuf Bushnak from Istanbul
and its model was the Yeni Mosque in that city.
The ground on which the mosque was erected was built with debris
from the earlier buildings of the Citadel.