The mosque is located in Al-Sayeda Zainab neighborhood of Cairo where its name was taken from the name of the mosque The mosque occupies the center of the neighborhood and there is Al-Sayeda Zainab square in front of the mosque There is no accurate record of when the mosque was built over the grave of Sayyida Zaynab and no historical references are currently available except for Ottoman Ali Pasha's order for renovation in 1547 and since then there were other renovations including the one conducted by Amir Abdul Rahman in 1768 and the one in 1940 by the Ministry of Endowment which demolished the old building completely and built the current building Henceforth  the mosque is not registered as an artifact of Islamic history The mosque at the time consisted of seven corridors parallel to the wall of the qibla with a square dish covered with a dome On the opposite side of the qibla wall is the mausoleum of Sayyida Zaynab surrounded by a brass fence and topped by a tall dome In 1969, the Ministry of Endowment doubled the area of the mosque