Shrine of al-'Askariyyayn: Difference between revisions

The Shrine of al-ʿAskariyyayn or the Shrine of al-Imamyn al-ʿAskariyyayn is the resting place of Imam al-Hadi (a) (martyrdom: 254 AH) and his son Imam al-Hasan al-ʿAskari (a) (martyrdom: 260 AH). The mausoleum is located in Samarra. It is a major Shiite pilgrimage destination in Iraq. Narjis Khatun, Imam al-Hasan al-ʿAskari’s wife and Imam al-Mahdi’s mother, as well as Hakima the daughter of Imam al-Jawad, and some other sadat and Shiite scholars are buried in this shrine.

Imam al-Hadi (a) and Imam al-ʿAskari (a) were laid to rest in their house of dwelling in 254 AH and 260 AH, respectively. In 328 AH, the first dome was erected on their graves, which was frequently repaired and renovated in later periods. In 1384 Sh and 1386 Sh, parts of the shrine were devastated in a terrorist bombing. After these attacks, the Committee for Reconstruction of ʿAtabat and the Office of Ayatollah al-Sistani reconstructed the shrine’s hall and darih, respectively.

The Shrine of al-ʿAskariyyayn (a) is the resting place of two Shiite Imams and a significant pilgrimage destination in Iraq. The shrine is situated in Samarra (a city located 120 kilometers north of Baghdad). In Shiite hadiths, it is recommended to visit the shrines of the Imams. Every year, many Shias from around the world visit the graves of Imam al-Hadi (a) and Imam al-ʿAskari (a) in Samarra.

After their martyrdom, Imam al-Hadi (a) and Imam al-Hasan al-ʿAskari (a), the tenth and eleventh Shiite Imams, were laid to rest in their house of dwelling in Samarra. Imam al-Hadi (a) had purchased the house from Dalil b. Yaʿqub al-Nasrani. According to Zabihollah Mahallati, the house in which al-Imamayn al-ʿAskariyyayn were buried remained in its original form until 328 AH. Only a window was installed htrough which people visited the graves of the two Imams. Citing a poem by Muhammad al-Samawi (1292-1370 AH), Mahallati argues that Nasir al-Dawla al-Hamdani (reign: 323-356 AH), a Hamdanid ruler, was the first to repair the house, building a dome on their graves in 328 AH. Later, various reconstructions and repairs were done in the Shrine of al-ʿAskariyyayn. Others who oversaw renovations or restorations in the shrine include Muʿizz al-Dawla al-Daylami and ʿAdud al-Dawla al-Daylami, Buyid rulers (reign: 322-448 AH), Arsalan al-Basasiri (d. 451 AH), Sultan Berkyaruq (d. 498), a Seljuk king, Ahmad al-Nasir li-Din Allah and al-Mustansir bi-Allah (575-622 AH), two Abbasid caliphs, Sultan Hasan al-Jalayiri (d. 776 AH), Sultan Hoseyn Safavi (reign: 1105-1135 AH), a Safavid king, Ahmad Khan Dunbuli and Hasanquli Khan Dunbuli (d. 1297 Sh), Naser al-Din Shah Qajar (reign: 1264-1313 AH), and Mirza Shirazi (1230-1312 AH).

The Shrine of al-ʿAskariyyayn was targeted in two separate terrorist attacks carried out by excommunicationist groups in 2005 and 2007, resulting in the destruction of the shrine. The bombings were met with widespread condemnation from Shiite authorities and communities around the world. Although the shrine’s dome, adorned with a brick gilded cover, and its intricate tessellations collapsed in the bombings, the foundations of the dome, the main structure of the shrine, and its walls remained intact. Following the attacks, the Iranian Committee for the Reconstruction of ʿAtabat ʿAliyat undertook the task of rebuilding the shrine from 1389 Sh to 1394 Sh. The reconstruction effort included gilding the dome using 23,000 golden bricks and building a new darih under the supervision of Sayyid Javad Shahrestani, the representative of Ayatollah al-Sistani in Iran.

The Shrine of al-ʿAskariyyayn consists of various parts, including:

The dome: The Shrine of al-ʿAskariyyayn boasts the largest dome among all the shrines of Shiite Imams, with an impressive area of 1,200 square meters.

Courtyard: The Shrine of al-ʿAskariyyayn features a spacious courtyard that is the result of merging several smaller courtyards. Specifically, it combines the courtyard of al-Imamayn, which measures 78 meters in length and 77 meters in width, with the courtyards of al-Musalla (50 meters in length and 40 meters in width) and al-Ghayba (64 meters in length and 5.61 meters in width).

According to Zabihollah Mahallati in his Maʾathir al-kubra fi tarikh Samarra, the following figures have been buried in the Shrine of al-ʿAskariyyayn: Narij the mother of Imam al-Mahdi (a), Hakima the daughter of Imam al-Jawad (a), Imam al-ʿAskari’s mother, Husayn b. ʿAli al-Hadi the brother of Imam al-ʿAskari (a), Jaʿfar al-Kadhdhab, and Abu Hashim al-Jaʿfari a great grandson of Jaʿfar al-Tayyar. Moreover, Samana al-Maghribiyya the mother of Imam al-Hadi (a), Ahmad Khan Dunbuli (d. 1200 AH), his son Husayn-Quli Khan Dunbuli, and Aqa Rida Hamadani (d. 1322 AH), a student of Mirza Shirazi, are buried in the Shrine of al-ʿAskariyyayn in Samarra.