Imam Ali Mosque (Najaf)

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The Imam Ali Mosque

The Imam Ali Mosque ( Arabic حرم الإمام علي, DMG Ḥaram al-Imām 'Alī ) is a mosque in the city of Najaf in Iraq . It is named after the Arab caliph ʿAlī ibn Abī Tālib , who was murdered and buried there in 661 , the son-in-law and cousin of the Prophet Mohammed († 632). It is one of the most important shrines of the Shiites .

meaning

Ali's mighty golden shrine is kept in the building, which is covered by a dome with 777 gold bricks. Furthermore, old documents and other precious items made of gold and jewels are stored in the Muslim house of worship. The pilgrim cemetery of Wadi as-Salam next to the mosque is also of great importance . Two million Shiites are said to have found their final resting place over the centuries on the 10 square kilometer site with minarets and domes.

A mosque of the Islamic Center Hamburg , opened in 1961 and financed by Iranian merchants , also bears the name Imam Ali Mosque .

History and attacks

It is believed that the mosque was first built in 977 by the Bujid Adud ad-Daula . After it was destroyed by fire, the Seljuk ruler Malik Shah I rebuilt it in 1086. The mosque was later rebuilt and expanded several times.

There have been several attacks on the mosque since US troops marched into Iraq. On April 10, 2003, the Shiite leader Abd al-Madschid al-Choei (son of Grand Ayatollah Abu l-Qasim al-Choei ) was killed near the mosque after his return from British exile .

On August 29, 2003, a car bomb exploded outside the mosque shortly after Friday prayers were over . More than 125 people were killed, including the Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad Baqir al-Hakim . The attack was caused by Yasin Jarrad, the father-in-law (father of the second wife) of Abū Musʿab az-Zarqāwī from the Jordanian tribe of the Bani Hassan . Jarrad had driven into the mosque in a car loaded with explosives.

In August 2004 fighting took place in and around the mosque between the Mahdi army of the radical Shiite preacher Muqtada as-Sadr , who were holed up in the mosque, and US troops . On August 19, the Allawi government increased the pressure and asked the Mahdi army to hand over the mosque, otherwise the storm threatens within hours. As-Sadr is said to have asked his followers to hand over the mosque to as-Sistani. On August 25, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani called for a "March on Najaf", during which tens of thousands of Shiites from neighboring cities streamed to the Imam Ali mosque, forcing the occupation troops to abandon the siege, from the supporters who remained in the mosque as- Sadrs were received and so the fighting ended. The next day the followers of al-Sadr handed over the keys to the mosque to al-Sistani.

On August 10, 2006, a suicide bomber blew himself up near the shrine, killing 40 people and injuring another 50.

Web links

Commons : Imam Ali Mosque (Najaf)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Imam Ali Mosque: House of God priceless . In: Spiegel Online . August 20, 2004 ( spiegel.de [accessed July 25, 2018]).
  2. ↑ UNESCO World Heritage Center: Wadi Al-Salam Cemetery in Najaf - UNESCO World Heritage Center. Retrieved July 25, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Loretta Napoleoni : The Return of the Caliphate. The Islamic State and the New Order in the Middle East. Translated by Peter Stäuber. Rotpunktverlag, Zurich 2015, ISBN 978-3-85869-640-3 , chapter From al-Zarqawi to al-Baghdadi ( digitized (reading sample) ).
  4. ↑ a b FOCUS Online: The true ruler . In: FOCUS Online . ( focus.de [accessed on July 25, 2018]).
  5. ↑ news networld Internet Service GmbH: - Re bloody attack near Shiite shrine in Iraq . In: news.at . August 10, 2006 ( news.at [accessed July 25, 2018]).

Coordinates: 31 ° 59 ′ 46 ″  N , 44 ° 18 ′ 51 ″  E