Imam Ali Mosque
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The Imam Ali Holy Shrine (Arabic: حرم الإمام علي), also known as Masjid Ali or the Mosque of Ali, located in Najaf, Iraq, is the holy site of Islam.Ali Ibn Abi Talib (ALLAH Bless With Him), the cousin of Mohammad (Peace Be Upon Him), the fourth caliph of Islam is buried here.
History Of Shrine
Holy grave of Ali (ALLAH Bless With Him) surrounding by golden room
On the 19th of Ramadan, while worshipping in the Great Mosque of Kufa, Ali (ALLAH Bless With Him) was attacked by the Khawarij Abd-Al-Rahman Ibn Muljam. Ali ordered his sons not to attack the Kharijites, instead stipulating that if he survived, Ibn Muljam would be pardoned whereas if he died, Ibn Muljam should be given only one equal hit regardless of whether or not he dies from the hit.
The wound Ali received by Ibn Muljam's poison-coated sword while prostrating in the Fajr prayer resulted in his death in Kufa a few days later on 28 February 661 (21 Ramadan 40 A.H).Thus, Hasan fulfilled Qisas and gave equal punishment to Ibn Muljam upon Ali's death.
According to Al-Shaykh Al-Mufid, Ali did not want his grave to be desecrated by his enemies and consequently asked his friends and family to bury him secretly.Most Muslims accept that Ali (ALLAH Bless With Him) is buried at the Tomb of Imam Ali in the Imam Ali Mosque at what is now the city of Najaf, which grew around the mosque and shrine called Masjid Ali.
However another story, usually maintained by some Afghans, notes that his body was taken and buried in the Afghan city of Mazar-E-Sharif at the famous Blue Mosque or Rawze-e-Sharif.
The tomb of Ali has been honored at Najaf since as early as 750 AD, although it is possible he is actually buried in Afghanistan.
The tomb of Imam Ali is said to have been discovered at Najaf around 750 AD by Dawood Bin Ali Al-Abbas.The shrine was first built by the Iranian ruler the Daylamite Fannakhosraw Azod Ad Dowleh (Persian: عضدالدوله فناخسرو), but later burned down. It was rebuilt by the Seljuk Malik Shah in 1086, and rebuilt yet again by Ismail Shah, the Safawid, in about 1500.
Throughout its most of its history Najaf tended to avoid politics, but in the 1970s it took up the cause of the Iranian ayatollahs in their religious and political revolutionary movement. Ayatollah Khomeini lived in exile in Najaf from 1965 to 1978, where he led the opposition to the Shah in Iran.
During the uprising of March 1991, following the Persian Gulf War, Saddam Hussein's Republican Guards damaged the shrine.Afterwards the shrine was closed for two years, officially for repairs.
The wound Ali received by Ibn Muljam's poison-coated sword while prostrating in the Fajr prayer resulted in his death in Kufa a few days later on 28 February 661 (21 Ramadan 40 A.H).Thus, Hasan fulfilled Qisas and gave equal punishment to Ibn Muljam upon Ali's death.
According to Al-Shaykh Al-Mufid, Ali did not want his grave to be desecrated by his enemies and consequently asked his friends and family to bury him secretly.Most Muslims accept that Ali (ALLAH Bless With Him) is buried at the Tomb of Imam Ali in the Imam Ali Mosque at what is now the city of Najaf, which grew around the mosque and shrine called Masjid Ali.
However another story, usually maintained by some Afghans, notes that his body was taken and buried in the Afghan city of Mazar-E-Sharif at the famous Blue Mosque or Rawze-e-Sharif.
The tomb of Ali has been honored at Najaf since as early as 750 AD, although it is possible he is actually buried in Afghanistan.
The tomb of Imam Ali is said to have been discovered at Najaf around 750 AD by Dawood Bin Ali Al-Abbas.The shrine was first built by the Iranian ruler the Daylamite Fannakhosraw Azod Ad Dowleh (Persian: عضدالدوله فناخسرو), but later burned down. It was rebuilt by the Seljuk Malik Shah in 1086, and rebuilt yet again by Ismail Shah, the Safawid, in about 1500.
Throughout its most of its history Najaf tended to avoid politics, but in the 1970s it took up the cause of the Iranian ayatollahs in their religious and political revolutionary movement. Ayatollah Khomeini lived in exile in Najaf from 1965 to 1978, where he led the opposition to the Shah in Iran.
During the uprising of March 1991, following the Persian Gulf War, Saddam Hussein's Republican Guards damaged the shrine.Afterwards the shrine was closed for two years, officially for repairs.
Architecture and Design
The mosque is resplendent in gold, with 7,777 tiles of pure gold covering the dome and two 35-meter high golden minarets each made of 40,000 gold tiles. Inside, the mosque is decorated with the opulence typical of mosques, with neon lights reflecting off mirrored tiles and hammered silver walls. Sheltered in the mosque is an often-looted treasury of precious objects donated by sultans and other devotees over the years.