Najaf: Difference between revisions

Najaf is located 165 km southwest of Baghdad, 77 km southeast of Karbala and 10 km south of Kufa. Existence of the ancient city of Hira, which held of the bright civilization in the history of Iraq, in that region indicates the historical background of it. Najaf is bordered by Wadi al-Salam form north, dried sea of Najaf form west and a desert connected to Badiyat al-Sham, which stretches to Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria, form west.  

Located between the city of Kufa and deserts, Najaf is a very windy and hot city. At times the temperature reaches 50 Celsius. Although Najaf was always in lack of water, at some periods, such as 7th century, 20 thousand date palm was watered by its water.  

- During early Islamic history, Najaf is only mentioned in history books in the conquer of Iraq and Iran by Muslims.

- There is no report about Najaf until the Abbasid time. During the rulee of Harun al-Rashid, as the grave of Imam Ali (a) was found in this city, many people moved there.  

===Development of Najaf===

- Abu al-Hayja’ ‘Abd Allah b. Hamdan, the Shi’a governor of Mosul, reconstructed the wall around Najaf and put gates for that.  

- Amir Firuz and Amir Ahmad the first, two rulers of India in the late 8th century, allocated some endowments of Deccan for management of the holy shrine and reconstruction of the city.  

===Establishment and Development of Hawza of Najaf===

- In early 5th century, al-Shaykh al-Tusi emigrated to Najaf. By holding teaching sessions in Najaf, he changed the city to one of the most important cultural and scholarly Shi’a center.  

This centrality revived again by arrival of Mulla Ahamad Ardabily, famously known as Muqaddas Ardabily, and his teaching sessions.  

- During the Ba’th regime, Hawzat al-‘Ilmiyya of Najaf was under a lot of pressure; nonetheless, it managed to continue its path. Nowadays it is regarded as one of the scholarly Shi’a center in the world.

===Historical Sites===

- Najaf Fortress: Ottoman empire built many strong fortresses.  Hajj Muhammad Husayn Khan Sadr Isfahani reconstructed its walls and installed two gates for it. The gate of Najaf was next to the wall of the fortress and there were bazaars around it. There was also a gate in the fortress that opened to the courtyard of Imam Ali’s holy shrine. However, due to the development of the holy shrine of Imam Ali (a) the fortress was demolished.  

- Tomb of Dhu al-Kifl (a): At 40th kilometer of Najaf-Hilla road, next to Euphrates, there is a village called Dhu al-Kifl, in which the Israelite prophet Dhu al-Kifl have been entombed. As this prophet was surety (Kafil) of Jews he was called Dhu al-Kifl (owner of suretyship). His tomb is situated in a small brick fortress in the village. In the last century Jews have built some buildings in that region. The residents of that region who were Jews and Arabs immigrated to Palestine later. Every year, Jew pilgrims from all over the world would come to this place and stay for one month. There is a mosque on the other side of the tomb which is said that 4 Disciples and Dhu al-Kifl’s daughter are buried there.  

In addition to the holy shrine of Imam Ali (a) there are other pilgrimage sites in Najaf.

===Tombs of Prophets==

Some Sahaba (the prophet Muhammad’s companions), Tabi’un (the Followers), companions of Imam Ali (a) and descendants of the infallible Imams are entombed in Najaf. Many of whom are buried in Thuwayya, a place located 3 kilometers away from Najaf on the route of Masjid al-Hannana to Masjid al-Kufa. They are:  

- Ahnaf b. Qays  

He is entombeed in al-‘Imara neighborhood.  

Al Hamdan were Shi’a rulers in the 5th and 6th centuries in Levant. They played a significant rule in the movement of resistance and fighting against the invasion of Byzantine forces. Sayf al-Dawlat al-Hamdani and Nasir al-Dawla are two famous rulers of this dynasty. According to Shaykh Ali Al Kashif al-Ghita’, Al Hamdan transferred the dead form Damascus, Aleppo and Mosul to Najaf and buried them there.

Mongol Ilkhanate is one of the Shi’a governments in Iran who also ruled in Iraq in the 8th and 9th centuries. Some rulers and statesmen of Ilkhanate, Jalayirid and Timurid were buried in the holy shrine of Imam Ali (a); but the exact location of their grave is unknown. Hibat al-Din al-Shahristani reported that he had seen the grave of Timur the Lame, the founder of Timurid dynasty, next to the tomb of al-Shaykh al-Tusi in the Sardab (hypogeum).  

It is located on the east of the courtyard of the holy shrine of Imam Ali (a). It is the mosque where Ayatulla Khu’i held his teaching sessions. This mosque is very old and attributed to Ali b. Muzaffar. It was reconstructed by Hajj Shaykh Ahmad Ansari Qummi in 1380.  

This school is one of the very old and famous schools in Najaf.  

Mulla ‘Abd Allah Yazdi was a great scholar and “Naqib” of Najaf who lived in Najaf in 10th century.  

This school is one of the biggest and most extensive schools in Najaf. It is located in “al-Suq al-Kabir” (big bazaar) which leads to the holy shrine of Imam Ali (a).  

This school was destroyed during Sadam’s rule.  

- Madrasat Mirza Hasan al-Shirazi  

It was a big school located in al-‘Imara neighborhood. It was destroyed by Ba’th regime in 1367 and its properties and endowments were confiscated.  

- Madrasat Sayyid Kazim Yazdi  

This school was built by Ayatullah Khu’i’s order. Ba’th forces destroyed this school after the 1991 uprising in Iraq (al-Intifadat al-Sha’baniyya).  

During several years of research about Shi’a authors and their books, Aqa Buzurg Tihrani gathered many valuable books from all over the world, especially from Iran and Egypt, in his personal library. In 1375 he endowed all his books to public. There were about 5000 volumes including 100 rare manuscripts.  

This library was founded in the early 13th century by Hajj Muhammad Husayn Khan Sadr. It was one of the most famous libraries in Najaf at that time; but due to inattentions many of its books were disappeared. Nowadays, this library is not noteworthy.  

This library, which has a beautiful building, is located at the end of “Shari’ al-Rasul.” It was founded by Shaykh Baqir Sharif al-Qurashi.