The land for the Mosque was in Tabbana quarter of Cairo, and was originally a burial area; in the Islamic year 738 (1337–38 CE) al-Maridani purchased the area on which the sultan and he would commission the mosque. Sultan Muhammad appointed an overseer to purchase the surrounding houses, which he subsequently cleared. To build the mosque, the sultan appointed his master builder, al-mu'allim (the teacher) al-Suyufi, and provided about 15,000 dirhams worth of wood and marble.