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In shaa Allah, I will be traveling to Cairo, Egypt soon. I have been there before and I have visited Masjid Al-Hussein twice, as Allah has willed. First, I am wondering if the reports are true that the mausoleum inside is the burial site for Imam Hussein's blessed head. Second, if it is true, then what is the proper etiquette of visiting this place?

From central Cairo you take the ringroad towards the north of the city, towards the town of al-Marg. The road heads towards Alexandria. You get off at the junction for al-Marg (it is signposted). As you come off the sliproad the railway station for New al-Marg should be directly in front of you. So you can only go left or right. You go left and pass the railway buildings. The railway tracks will be to your right and they run parallel to the road for some distance. You go straight for about 20 minutes. The shrine is a white building on your right. Any problems - search the net for Bohri Shia organisations in Cairo, their people know the site, speak good English and are helpful. Because of other Bohri pilgrimage sites in Cairo and the fact that one of their leaders is buried outside Malik al Ashtar's shrine means that their people are the main Shia visitors here. Most importantly the locals know the site as the maqam Sheikh al Ajmi. Take a trusted driver and ask him to wait outside. There seem to be very few taxis around. My driver was a bit concerned about the place (it is a poor suburb of Cairo).

All the tourists were congregating at the Mohammad Ali (founder of modern Egypt) mosque. We came to this one and there was no one there. Perfect. Paid the caretaker US$5 for opening it up and showing me around.

Egyptians Escalate Movement against Israeli Embassy, Detain Officials Egyptian protestors attacked and invaded the Israeli embassy in Cairo Friday night, took off the Israeli flag and raised the Egyptian flag instead, and tossed official papers and documents, including “confidential” ones, through the windows into the massive crowds rallying near the building. The protestors were able to accomplish this step after having destroyed a wall built around the building of the embassy. After that, they surrounded and detained six of the embassy security men, who were saved by the Egyptian commandos. 18 people were martyred and 450 others were injured during the protests after the Egyptian police confronted and attacked the protestors' movement, and used tear bombs to separate them. Egyptian Interior Minister declared a state of high alert, and cancelled all police leave, while Prime Minister Essam Sharaf called for an emergency cabinet meeting Saturday. The official Egyptian News Agency Al-Sharq Al-Awsat reported that the protestors successfully took control over “confidential” documents that belong to the Israeli apparatuses, and claimed that the “documents included letters from Israeli employees to their Egyptian counterparts written in Arabic but have Israeli stamps.” One of the activists told Al-Manar TV Channel that some of the documents included information about the Israeli spy in Egypt Azzam Azzam whom ousted President Hosni Moubarak ordered his release four years ago. Furthermore, the 25 January revolution coalition stated that the protestors have detained three of the Israeli embassy employees, and moved them to a “safer” place. The coalition coordinator Houssam Al-Din Ammar told Al-Manar that the three officials were the Israeli ambassador’s secretary, and two communication and protocol officials in the embassy. He also said that high-ranked officials have called him personally asking for the release of the Israeli detainees, but he demanded the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador and all the embassy staff, and the summoning of the Egyptian ambassador in Israel before any release, and put a time frame of three hours to do so. Media reports revealed Saturday that Higher Chief of the Armed forces Hussein Tantawi began personally negotiating with the protestors to release the detainees, but the revolution coalition put the mentioned conditions and warned that if they were not implemented, they will intensify their movement. The Israeli ambassador in Cairo Yitzhak Levanon reportedly left Egypt Saturday, leaving behind his senior diplomat to resume the embassy’s work. AFP quoted an Israeli official as saying that "we left the deputy ambassador to keep up contact with the Egyptian government." For his part, US President Barack Obama expressed his “great concern” of the rising situation to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, and demanded the Egyptian authorities to “protect” the Israeli embassy; while Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak requested US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to help protecting the embassy in Cairo. Obama’s office issued a statement indicating that Obama has “reviewed the steps that the United States is taking at all levels to help resolve the situation without further violence, and to call on the Government of Egypt to honor its international obligations to safeguard the security of the Israeli Embassy." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF9nyIWq8ek