CONSTRUCTION OF THE MAUSOLEUM OF IMAM `ALI

SETTLEMENT IN NAJAF

Najaf is situated five miles to the west of al-Kūfah. There is a legend that log ago there was a mass of water at the place. When the water was totally absorbed by the soil and its substrata, the place was called annajaf or nayjaf, meaning the water had dried up. With excessive use the place came to be called Najaf. Adjacent to Najaf, there was another habitation, three miles from al-Kūfah, that was known as al-Hirah. Between these two places, there was a desert known as maltat. The foundation of al-Hirah was laid by the Caledonian monarch, Nebuchadnezzar and Alexander of Macedonia took part in its renovation and development. After sometime the people of al-Hirah moved to al-Anbar and al-Hirah fell into ruins. Habitations keep coming up and disappearing over periods. After its ruination, therefore, opportunity came for the revival of al-Hirah. Malik ibn Fahham, who had left Yemen fearing its submergence into the sea, came to settle down in Iraq. He succeeded in establishing his kingdom in the new area. After him, his son Judhaymah Abrash came to power. When he was killed by ²ubbah, the queen of al-Jazirah, his nephew `Amr ibn `Adi, in the year 240 A.D., during the times of Shahpur I, succeeded to the throne. `Amr, on assuming power, adopted al-Hirah as his home and thereafter it became the permanent capital of Iraq. Its beauty was enhanced with gardens and oases. Imposing structures like al-khawarnaq and al-sadir were constructed. The people here were dependent on horticulture and agriculture. Being on the borders of Iran, it also provided security to the Iranian caravans of traders and received compensation for the service rendered to them. When after the conquest of Iraq, the foundations for the city of al-Kūfah were laid, people started moving there from al-Hirah. The bricks and stones of the structures in al-Hirah too were moved to al-Kūfah. This place fell into ruins and became a stretch of sand. When Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s) got his final resting place in the neighborhood of al-Hirah, the people started re-inhabiting the area. This place came to be known as Najaf, Mashhad and al-Ghari. Al-Hirah remained only in the pages of the books of history! The name of the place became al-Ghari because Judhaymah al-Abrash built two huge structures over the graves of his friends, Malik and `Aqil, which were called al-Ghariyyayn. With passage of time, instead of

(718)

saying al-Ghariyyayn, the people started calling the place as al-Ghari. Even Najaf in the early days was called al-Ghari because of being adjacent to it.

When the Shi`ah of `Ali (a.s) became the attendants of the Shrine, they started constructing shacks and rooms in the surroundings of the shrine for their residence. The population of the place kept increasing and soon it assumed the proportion of a city. From Najaf to Syria there was a desert track and the danger of brigands was always there for the wayfarers. Because of this danger, the emirs and monarchs had constructed imparts around the city. This way renovated and improved as the need arose. Therefore, the first one to construct the Mausoleum of Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s) was `Adud al-Dawlah Fanakhusrow during the years 367 to 372 H and the boundary wall for the city. In 400 H, the vizier of Sultan al-Dawlah al-Daylami, Abū-Muhammad ibn Sahlan, demolished the first rampart and constructed a wider and stronger compound wall. Ibn al-Athir writes:

“Abū-Muhammad Sahlan fell ill. When the sickness increased he made a vow that if he was restored to health, he would build a compound wall around the Mausoleum of Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s). Therefore, he recovered his health and he issued orders for the construction of the wall. The project was completed the same year, 400 H.”[1]

The last time the rampart was renovated in the period of Fath `Ali Shah Qajar (expired 1250 H) by his vizier Nizam al-Dawlah al-Isfahani, but most of this wall has been demolished because of the expansion of the city.

The population of Najaf consists of mainly the Shi`ah. A major portion of the population consists of the students of the disciplines of Islamic Studies who come from various countries in the world. Although Najaf had always been the center for learning, but when Shaykh al-Ta’ifah Abū-Ja`far al-tūsi shifted his residence from Baghdad, because of trouble from the people there, to Najaf, the foundations for the Najaf were laid and with the felicity of madinat al-`ilm it remained the center of imparting knowledge!

[1] Al-Kāmil fit-Tārīkh, Vol 7, Page 942

CONSTRUCTION OF THE MAUSOLEUM OF IMAM `ALI

Excepting the Imams (a.s) and a few other persons, no one else knew about the location of the grave of Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s). There was no way of people knowing about it because the grave was located in a remote place on a desolate hillock. There was neither any sign of the grave nor the tombstone. Its location came to be known by the people when Harūn al-Rashid, the `Abbasid ruler, on assuming power in 170 H traveled in the environs of al-Kūfah. The purpose was to hunt the wildlife in the wilderness. When he saw some deer, he started the chase with his hunting dogs He was surprised to see that the deer had climbed up a hillock and the dogs were scared of going near them. Harūn called a person from al-Hirah and asked him, “What is this place? “he said that the spot was the final resting place of Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s). Harūn gave a gift to the person, visited the grave of the Imam (a.s) and ordered the mausoleum be built. Therefore, a dome was constructed. People started visiting it and started burying their dead in its neighborhood.[1]

This building was in the shape of a red dome. It had doors on all the four sides. The walls around the grave were made of white bricks.

Muhammad ibn Zayd al-Hassani, the Emir of Tabristan, during the period of al-Mu`tadid billah, constructed the four outer walls for the dome and made the Mausoleum in the form of a fortress. There were seventy recesses (taq) in the walls. The period of al-Mu`tadid billah was between 279 and 289 A.H.

When `Adud al-Dawlah Fanakhusrow ibn Rukn al-Dawlah came to power in 367 A.H., he constructed the mausoleum at a huge expense. The walls were clad with teakwood and the dome was done in white stone. Husayn ibn al-Hajjaj al-Baghdadi, died in 391 A.H. in his poetic appraisal of the monument has said:

O resident of the white dome of the land of Najaf 

One who visits the grave will recover from ailment!

[1] `Umdat al-Matālib, Page 44

(720)

At the time of this construction `Adud al-Dawlah had made a will that he should be buried near the Imam (a.s) in Najaf. Therefore, Ibn Khillakan has written:

“`Adud al-Dawlah had constructed the Shrine at great expense and willed that he too should be buried there.”[1]

Therefore, when he died on the eighth of Shawwal 372 H, he was buried in the Western side of the Mausoleum.

In 755 A.H, there was a big fire in the complex and most of the structure was destroyed, but in 760 H it was reconstructed.

In 914 A.H, Shah Isma`il the Safavid, died 930 H, built a steel sarcophagus and installed golden lamps inside the Mausoleum.

In 1032 A.H, Shah `Abbas Kabir, died 1038, constructed the Mausoleum and extended the courtyard.

In 1047 A.H, Shah Safi the Safavid, died 1052, started construction at the Mausoleum and his son, Shah `Abbas II completed it in 1077 H.

In 1154 or 1156, Nadir Shah, after the conquest of India, repaired the Mausoleum with glazed tiles of Kashan and clad the dome and the minarets with gold.

In 1207 A.H, Muhammad Khan the Qajar and in 1232 A.H. Fath `Ali Shah the Qajar and in 1288 H Nasir al-Din Shah the Qajar renovated and beautified the Mausoleum.

In 1361 A.H, Mulla tahir Sayfuddin, Chief of Jamaat Bawaheer installed a magnificent sarcophagus made of gold and silver.

In the middle of the 14th Century of Hegira, an Iranian businessman installed golden doors for the Mausoleum!

[1] Wafiyyāt al-A`yān, Vol 1, Page 418