Girish Mahajan (Editor)

Imam Ali Mosque

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Location
  
Najaf,  Iraq

Completed
  
977

Affiliation
  
Shia Islam

Imam Ali Mosque httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediacommonsaa

Burials
  
Ali, Shia view of Ali, Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim

Similar
  
Imam Husayn Shrine, Al Abbas Mosque, Al‑Kadhimiya Mosque, Wadi‑us‑Salaam, Great Mosque of Kufa

Imam ali mosque


The Imām 'Alī Holy Shrine (Arabic: حرم الإمام علي‎‎), also known as Masjid Ali or the Mosque of 'Alī, located in Najaf, Iraq, is the Holy site for Shia Muslims . 'Alī ibn Abī Tālib, the cousin of Muhammad, the first Imam (according to Shia belief) and fourth caliph (according to Sunni belief) is buried here. According to Shi'a belief, buried next to Ali within this mosque are the remains of Adam and Noah. Each year millions of pilgrims visit the Shrine and pay tribute to Imam Ali.

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Imam Ali Mosque Imam Ali Mosque

Imam ali mosque


History

Imam Ali Mosque Iraq Significant Site 051 Najaf Imam Ali Mosque and Shrine Complex

The mosque was first built by the Buyid shahanshah 'Adud al-Dawla in 977 over the tomb of Ali. After being destroyed by fire, it was rebuilt by the Seljuk Malik Shah I in 1086, and rebuilt yet again by the Safavid Shah Ismail I shortly after 1500.

Imam Ali Mosque Iraq Significant Site 051 Najaf Imam Ali Mosque and Shrine Complex

During the uprising of March 1991, following the Persian Gulf War, Saddam Hussein's Republican Guards damaged the shrine, where members of the Shia opposition were cornered, in storming the shrine and massacring virtually all its occupants. Afterwards the shrine was closed for two years, officially for repairs. Saddam Hussein also deported to Iran a large number of the residents of the area who were of Iranian descent.

Religious status

As the burial site of Shia Islam's second most important figure, the Imām 'Alī Mosque is considered by all Shias as the third holiest Islamic site The Boston Globe reports “for the world's nearly 320 million Muslim Shias, Najaf is the third holiest city, behind Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia. It is estimated that only Karbala, Mecca and Medina receive more Muslim pilgrims. A famous hadith mentions the site as one of "five definitive holy places that we respect very much".

Precincts

Also buried within this mosque according to Shias are Adam and Noah.

Imam Ali Mosque Imam Ali Mosque Mosque in Iraq Thousand Wonders

The site is visited annually by at least 8 million pilgrims on average, which is estimated to increase to 20 million in years to come. Many Shī'ah believe that 'Alī did not want his grave to be desecrated by his enemies and consequently asked his friends and family to bury him secretly. This secret gravesite is supposed to have been revealed later during the Abbasid caliphate by Ja'far as-Sādiq, the Sixth Shī'ah Imām. Most Shī'as accept that 'Alī is buried in Imām 'Alī Mosque, in what is now the city of Najaf (which grew around the shrine).

Imam Ali Mosque Imam Ali Mosque Wikipedia

It has also been narrated from Ja'far as-Sādiq, the 6th Imām, that Imām 'Alī Mosque is the third of five holy places: Mecca, Medina, Imām 'Alī Mosque in Najaf, Imam Husayn Shrine in Karbalā, and the Shrine for Fātimah—daughter of Mūsā al-Kādhim in Qom.

Events in 2003–2006

Since the invasion of Iraq by the U.S. military in 2003, there have been a number of further attacks at the mosque:

  • April 10, 2003, Shia leader Sayed Abdul Majid al-Khoei, the son of Grand Ayatollah Abu al Qasim al-Khoei, was killed near the mosque. Al-Khoei had returned from exile in Britain to encourage cooperation with the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq.
  • August 29, 2003, a car bomb exploded outside the mosque just as the main Friday prayers were ending. Somewhere between 85 and 125 people were killed, including the influential Ayatollah Sayed Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, the Shia leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. The blast is thought to be the work of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
  • May 24, 2004, unidentified mortar fire hit the shrine, damaging gates which lead to the tomb of Imam Ali.
  • August 5, 2004, Muqtada al-Sadr and the Mahdi Army seized the mosque and used it as a military base for launching attacks against the Iraqi police, the provincial government and coalition forces. The fighting was eventually ended by a peace agreement. Although the neighboring buildings suffered considerable damage, the mosque itself suffered only superficial damage from stray bullets and shrapnel.
  • August 10, 2006 a suicide bomber wearing an explosive harness blew himself up near the shrine, which killed 40 people and injured more than 50 others.

    • References

    Imam Ali Mosque Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA