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Shrine of Sharifa bt. Imam al-Hasan (a)

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Shrine of Sharifa bt. Imam al-Hasan (a)
Shrine of Sayyida Sharifa in Hilla
Shrine of Sayyida Sharifa in Hilla
RoleShrine
TeknonymUmm Salama
EpithetSayyida Sharifa • Bibi Sharifa • Umm Radi
Well-Known AsSayyida Sharifa • Bibi Sharifa
Religious AffiliationShi'a Islam
FatherImam al-Hasan al-Mujtaba (a)
Spouse(s)'Umar al-Ashraf
Demise20 Muharram, 61 AH/20 October 680
Place of BurialHilla, Iraq


Shrine of Sharīfa bt. Imam al-Ḥasan (a) (Arabic: مرقد شریفة بنت الإمام الحسن(ع)), known as Sayyida Sharīfa (Arabic: سیدة شریفة) and Bībī Sharīfa (Arabic: بی‌بی شریفة), is a shrine in Hilla, Iraq, traditionally attributed to a daughter of Imam al-Hasan al-Mujtaba (a). The shrine is popularly believed to be the tomb of a daughter of Imam al-Hasan (a), although historical and genealogical sources offer different views regarding the identity of the person buried there. Some accounts identify her as Umm Salama, the wife of 'Umar al-Ashraf, son of Imam al-Sajjad (a), while others associate her with the line of al-Hasan al-Muthanna. Other researchers identify the person buried there as Sharaf al-Ashraf, daughter of Sayyid b. Tawus and a learned woman of the Al Tawus Family.

Although the identity of the person buried there has not been conclusively established, the shrine's longstanding recognition among local communities, its registration in Ottoman-era records, and local traditions have contributed to its acceptance as a pilgrimage site. Numerous authors have examined the identity of the person buried there from different perspectives, and the shrine remains an important pilgrimage site in Hilla.

Status of the Shrine of Sayyida Sharifa

Sayyida Sharifa is one of the shrines in Iraq, located in the Tahmaziyya area of Hilla, 30 kilometers from Karbala.[1] The shrine lies along the Tariq al-Ulama pilgrimage route. It holds a special place in the religious life of Hilla's residents and receives pilgrims throughout the day and night.[2] Local residents visit the shrine seeking healing or the fulfillment of their needs, and many believe that their requests have been granted through tawassul to the person buried there.[3] Rituals practiced by pilgrims at the shrine include laying a sofreh (ritual table), making special visits on Tuesdays, performing the Ziyarah prayer, and reciting a ziyarah text.[4]

Sayyida Sharifa is also known by epithets such as "Physician of the Ahl al-Bayt,"[5] "Umm Radi," and "Possessor of Miracles."[6]

History of the Building

The documented history of the shrine dates back to the Ottoman period. According to reports, a land-registration official at that time recorded the grave under the name "al-Sayyida al-Sharifa bt. al-Hasan." Local residents are said to have been present during the registration process. The surrounding lands were reportedly registered in her name, and the income generated by these lands was used to maintain the shrine and accommodate pilgrims. The name "Sharifa" also appears on an official Ottoman map dated 1332 AH/1914, and an old tombstone bearing the same name survives as a historical artifact.[7]

The shrine complex consists of a chamber topped by a dome, a large portico, and a spacious courtyard.[8] A new darih for the shrine was made by Sayyid Muhsin Ahmadi, an Iranian artist from Isfahan. It measures 5.5 meters in length, 4.5 meters in width, and 3.65 meters in height. It was installed in 2021 in the presence of the shrine's custodian and a group of pilgrims.[9]

Identity of Sayyida Sharifa

According to one account, Sayyida Sharifa's personal name was Umm Salama, and she was married to 'Umar al-Ashraf, son of Imam al-Sajjad (a).[10] According to this account, she came to be known as Sharifa because of her high social and familial status as the wife of 'Umar al-Ashraf. Over time, the title became more commonly used than her personal name. Some reports state that Umm Salama migrated with her husband to an area near Kufa. After they settled there, 'Umar al-Ashraf joined Zayd the Martyr in the Uprising of Zayd b. Ali. Umm Salama later died and was buried in the same area.[11]

By contrast, the author of al-Darajat al-rafi'a fi waqayi' al-Shi'a identifies her as Fatima Sharifa, daughter of Imam al-Hasan (a), and dates her martyrdom to 20 Muharram 61 AH (680 CE). He also suggests that, because of the oppression and persecution suffered by the Ahl al-Bayt (a) under the Umayyad Caliphate, no historical account of this woman's life may have survived.[12]

Views on the Shrine's Attribution to Imam al-Hasan (a)

The shrine is popularly known as that of Sharifa bt. al-Hasan (a), and local tradition identifies the person buried there as a daughter of Imam al-Hasan al-Mujtaba (a).[13]

Muhammad Hirz al-Din (d. 1365 AH/1945–46) notes that the tomb is widely believed to belong to a daughter of Imam al-Hasan (a). However, he states that he cannot establish the identity of the person buried there and that the attribution should neither be definitively accepted nor rejected.[14] Some researchers, including Shaykh Muhammad Jamil al-'Amili and Husayn Abu Sa'ida, argue that no reliable historical source or transmitted report establishes that Imam al-Hasan (a) had a daughter named Sharifa. They suggest that Sharifa may have been a general honorific rather than a personal name, or that the attribution may have arisen for reasons not supported by historical evidence.[15]

Drawing on genealogical sources, some researchers, including Faqih Bahr al-'Ulum, have discussed several possible identifications of the person buried there. These include attribution to Imam al-Hasan al-Mujtaba (a), a possible connection with al-Hasan al-Muthanna, and the identification of the person buried there as Sharaf al-Ashraf, daughter of Sayyid b. Tawus and a member of the Al Tawus Family.[16]

By contrast, Sayyid Muhammad Ali al-Hilu (d. 1440 AH/2018), an Iraqi scholar, sought to establish that Sharifa bt. al-Hasan (a) was among the captives taken after the Event of Karbala and died and was buried at the present shrine site along the route from Kufa to Damascus.[17] The author of Marqad al-Sayyida al-Sharifa bint al-Hasan (a) adopts a historical and social approach, emphasizing the shrine's longstanding reputation and public recognition. He argues that the community's identification of the person buried there is supported by tawatur (multiple convergent reports), is documented, and is beyond doubt.[18]

  • Video of the shrine of Sayyida Sharifa bt. al-Hasan (a)
  • Video from inside the shrine
  • View of the nave (shabestan) of Sayyida Sharifa
    View of the nave (shabestan) of Sayyida Sharifa
  • Tile work of the dome and minarets
    Tile work of the dome and minarets
  • Turquoise tile works of the shrine
    Turquoise tile works of the shrine
  • Distant view of the shrine of Sayyida Sharifa
    Distant view of the shrine of Sayyida Sharifa

Notes

  1. ↑ Faqīhī Muqaddas, Naqsh-i bānovān-i Shīʿa dar gustarish-i ʿulūm-i Islāmī, p. 187.
  2. ↑ Faqīh Baḥr al-ʿUlūm, Ziyāratgāh-hā-yi ʿIrāq, vol. 2, p. 134.
  3. ↑ Faqīh Baḥr al-ʿUlūm, Ziyāratgāh-hā-yi ʿIrāq, vol. 2, p. 134.
  4. ↑ "Bībī Sharīfa kīst? Mazār-i Imāmzāda Sharīfa bt. al-Ḥasan (a)".
  5. ↑ "Ḥaram-i muṭahhar-i Sharīfa dukhtar-i Imām Ḥasan al-Mujtabā (a)...".
  6. ↑ Faqīh Baḥr al-ʿUlūm, "Barrasī-yi mazārāt-i Āl Ṭāwūs dar Ḥilla wa mazār-i Sharīfa bt. al-Ḥasan (a)", p. 98.
  7. ↑ Kurayṭī, Marqad al-Sayyida al-Sharīfa, pp. 83–89.
  8. ↑ Faqīh Baḥr al-ʿUlūm, Ziyāratgāh-hā-yi ʿIrāq, vol. 2, p. 134.
  9. ↑ "Naṣb-i ḍarīḥ-i jadīd-i ḥaram-i Sayyida Sharīfa...".
  10. ↑ Kurayṭī, Marqad al-Sayyida al-Sharīfa, p. 76.
  11. ↑ Kurayṭī, Marqad al-Sayyida al-Sharīfa, pp. 77–79.
  12. ↑ Rafīʿī, Al-Darajāt al-rafīʿa fī waqāyiʿ al-Shīʿa, p. 336.
  13. ↑ Faqīh Baḥr al-ʿUlūm, Ziyāratgāh-hā-yi ʿIrāq, vol. 2, p. 134.
  14. ↑ Ḥirz al-Dīn, Marāqid al-maʿārif, vol. 1, p. 384.
  15. ↑ Kurayṭī, Marqad al-Sayyida al-Sharīfa, pp. 97–98; Abū Saʿīda, Banāt al-Maʿṣūmīn, pp. 86–87.
  16. ↑ Faqīh Baḥr al-ʿUlūm, "Barrasī-yi mazārāt-i Āl Ṭāwūs dar Ḥilla wa mazār-i Sharīfa bt. al-Ḥasan (a)", p. 98.
  17. ↑ Ḥilū, Mazār Sharīfa bt. al-Ḥasan (a), pp. 65–66.
  18. ↑ Kurayṭī, Marqad al-Sayyida al-Sharīfa, p. 83.

References

  • Abū Saʿīda, Ḥusayn. Banāt al-Maʿṣūmīn. Beirut, Muʾassisa al-Balāgh, 1436 AH.
  • "Bībī Sharīfa kīst? Mazār-i Imāmzāda Sharīfa bt. al-Ḥasan (a)". Zaerane Website. Accessed: 15 Mehr 1404 Sh.
  • Faqīh Baḥr al-ʿUlūm, Muḥammad Mahdī. "Barrasī-yi mazārāt-i Āl Ṭāwūs dar Ḥilla wa mazār-i Sharīfa bt. al-Ḥasan (a)". Farhang-i Ziyārat, Winter 1399 Sh, no. 45.
  • Faqīh Baḥr al-ʿUlūm, Muḥammad Mahdī. Ziyāratgāh-hā-yi ʿIrāq: Muʿarrafī-yi ziyāratgāh-hā-yi mashhūr dar kishvar-i ʿIrāq. Tehran, Mashʿar, 1395 Sh.
  • Faqīhī Muqaddas, Nafīsa. Naqsh-i bānovān-i Shīʿa dar gustarish-i ʿulūm-i Islāmī. Qom, Imām ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (a), 1397 Sh.
  • "Ḥaram-i muṭahhar-i Sharīfa dukhtar-i Imām Ḥasan al-Mujtabā (a), maʿrūf bi ṭabīb-i Ahl-i Bayt (a)". Al-Ataba Al-Husayniyya Al-Muqaddasa Website. Published: 20/01/2016.
  • Ḥilū, Sayyid Muḥammad ʿAlī. Mazār Sharīfa bt. al-Ḥasan (a); Qirāʾāt taḥqīqiyya. Baghdad, Dār al-Kafīl.
  • Ḥirz al-Dīn, Muḥammad. Marāqid al-maʿārif. N.p., Saʿīd b. Jubayr, 1371 Sh.
  • Kurayṭī, Ḥākim Ḥabīb. Marqad al-Sayyida al-Sharīfa bt. al-Ḥasan (a). 1440 AH.
  • "Naṣb-i ḍarīḥ-i jadīd-i ḥaram-i Sayyida Sharīfa dukhtar-i bilāfaṣl-i Imām Ḥasan al-Mujtabā (a)". Razavi News Agency. Published: 8 Khordad 1400 Sh. Accessed: 7 Mehr 1404 Sh.
  • Rafīʿī, Rafīʿ al-Dīn Sayyid Jaʿfar. Al-Darajāt al-rafīʿa fī waqāyiʿ al-Shīʿa. Qom, Muʾassisa-yi Farhangī wa Taḥqīqātī-yi Yārān-i Qāʾim, 1395 Sh.
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