Holy Shrine of Imam al-Husayn (a): Difference between revisions

[[Al-Mukhtar al-Thaqafi]] made the first building on Imam al-Husayn's (a) grave. The building was later reconstructed, and developed by Shias and followers of [[Ahl al-Bayt (a)]], especially rulers and governors.

When [[al-Mukhtar al-Thaqafi]] triumphed in [[Uprising of al-Mukhtar al-Thaqafi|his uprising]] for the vengeance of Imam al-Husayn (a) in [[Sha'ban]] of 65/March 685, he built the first mausoleum for Imam al-Husayn's (a) grave with a dome made of bricks and plasters. The building consisted in an area with a ceiling and a mosque with two gates—one to the east and one to the west.<ref>Āl Ṭuʿma, ''Karbalā wa ḥaram-hā-yi muṭahhar'', p. 89.</ref> Since many Shiites visited Imam al-Husayn's (a) mausoleum, [[Harun al-Rashid]] ordered some of his soldiers to destroy the mosque built on Imam al-Husayn's (a) grave as well as the one built on [[Abu l-Fadl al-'Abbas (a)|Abu l-Fadl al-'Abbas's (a)]]. Harun had also asked them to cut the cedar tree that had grown near Imam al-Husayn's (a) grave (and was used as a sign for the grave) and to raze the grave.<ref>Āl Ṭuʿma, ''Karbalā wa ḥaram-hā-yi muṭahhar'', p. 89.</ref>

When [[al-Ma'mun al-'Abbasi]] took over the [[caliphate]], all Abbasids opposed him. So in order to reinforce and establish his power against their oppositions, al-Ma'mun appealed to Imam 'Ali's  (a) progeny and his Shiites. Thus he reconstructed Imam al-Husayn's (a) mausoleum and allowed Shiites to visit the place as well as the graves of other Imams.

In [[Dhu l-Hijja 9]], [[273]]/[[May 7]], [[887 CE|887]], when pilgrims had gathered in Imam al-Husayn's (a) mausoleum on the [[Day of 'Arafa]], the building was destroyed and some pilgrims were killed. After that, Imam al-Husayn's (a) grave remained without a building on it for 10 years until when [[al-Da'i al-Saghir]] took over the power. He ordered the construction of a building for Imam 'Ali's (a) and Imam al-Husayn's (a) shrines with tall domes and two gates, each including an area with ceilings. He also reconstructed the fortification around Imam al-Husayn's (a) shrine and the houses nearby. The building dates back to the years 279/893 to 289/902.<ref>Āl Ṭuʿma, ''Karbalā wa ḥaram-hā-yi muṭahhar'', p. 99-100.</ref>

In 407/1016, two of the big candles (lightening the shrine) fell on the carpets and set the curtains and covers on fire. The fire then spread to the porches and the dome such that only the walls, parts of the shrine and 'Imran b. Shahin's mosque remained intact.<ref>Āl Ṭuʿma, ''Karbalā wa ḥaram-hā-yi muṭahhar'', p. 100-102.</ref>  

After taking over the power, Hasan b. Mufaddal b. Sahlan began to reconstruct the shrine, parts of which —including the domes and the porches— were burnt in fire. In 412/1021, he repaired the dome and the burnt parts and ordered the construction of a wall around the shrine.<ref>Āl Ṭuʿma, ''Karbalā wa ḥaram-hā-yi muṭahhar'', p. 103.</ref>  

Years later, in 620/1223, Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Karim al-Kindi was appointed as al-Nasir li-Din Allah's minister. During his ministry, he repaired, renewed, and reconstructed the damaged parts of the shrine, covered the walls and the porches with teak, and installed a wooden box covered with precious cloth on the grave.<ref>Āl Ṭuʿma, ''Karbalā wa ḥaram-hā-yi muṭahhar'', p. 103-104.</ref>

Uways b. Hasan al-Jalayiri renewed the mosque and the shrine in 767/1365 and built a semicircular dome over the [[darih]]. The dome rested on four porches on the four sides of Imam al-Husayn's (a) grave, and the exterior sides of each porch constituted a porch of the shrine. A large dome was built on these four porches, constituting a novel geometrical shape. The building was later completed by one of Uways's sons, Ahmad, in 786/1384. It was built in such a way that one could see the whole shrine and the mausoleum and the darih if he or she stood outside towards [[qibla]]. Moreover, pilgrims could walk around the darih.

Ahmad al-Jalayiri built the portico opposite the courtyard, known as the Golden Portico as well as the mosque of the courtyard which is square-shaped around the shrine. He also decorated the porches and the internal building of the shrine with mirrors, inlays, and [[Kashan]]'s tiles with portraits of natural sceneries. At Ahmad al-Jalayiri's command, the two minarets of the shrine were also decorated by yellow bricks of Kashan.<ref>Āl Ṭuʿma, ''Karbalā wa ḥaram-hā-yi muṭahhar'', p. 104-106.</ref>

In 914/1508, [[Shah Isma'il I]] conquered Baghdad. On the second day after the conquest, he visited Imam al-Husayn's (a) shrine and ordered his agents to gild the margins of Imam al-Husayn's (a) darih. In 92/1514, Shah Isma'il visited the shrine once again and ordered the construction of a teak box over the darih.

In 983/1575, 'Ali Pasha, reconstructed the dome of the shrine.  

In 1032/1623, [[Shah 'Abbas I]] constructed a copper darih for its box, and decorated the dome with Kashan's stones.

In 1048/1638, [[Sultan Murad IV]], an [[Ottoman]] king, visited Karbala, and ordered the exterior part of the dome to be whitened by plasters.<ref>Āl Ṭuʿma, ''Karbalā wa ḥaram-hā-yi muṭahhar'', p. 110.</ref>

In 1135/1722, Nadir Shah's wife, who had a great wealth at her disposal, ordered the administrators of the shrine to embark upon an extensive reconstruction. In 1155/1742, [[Nadir Shah]] visited Karbala and ordered the decoration of the existing buildings. He also donated precious gifts to the treasury of the shrine.<ref>Āl Ṭuʿma, ''Karbalā wa ḥaram-hā-yi muṭahhar'', p. 110-111.</ref>

In 1211/1796, [[Aqa Muhammad Khan Qajar]] ordered the decoration of the shrine's dome with gold. But in 1216/1801, [[Wahhabis]] attacked Karbala and destroyed the darih and the porches and stole all precious property in the treasury of the shrine.

In 1232/1816, Fath 'Ali Shah Qajar built a new silver darih, gilded the dome's portico, and reconstructed everything that was destroyed by Wahhabis.

In 1273/1856, [[Nasir al-Din Shah]] renewed the dome and some of the golden covers, and in 1283/1866, he developed the courtyard of the shrine.<ref>Āl Ṭuʿma, ''Karbalā wa ḥaram-hā-yi muṭahhar'', p. 111.</ref>

* In 1358/1939, Sayf al-Din Tahir, an Isma'ili missionary, changed the silver [[darih]] into a new one. In 1360/1941, he renewed one of the minarets which was completely destroyed. In 1367/1947, houses and religious schools near the shrine were destroyed in order to expand the shrine. In 1370/1950, the eastern side of the shrine was extended and was decorated with porches made of precious tiles. In 1371.1951, the dome of the shrine was reconstructed and decorated with golden tiles. In 1373/1953, the mirrors of the shrine's ceiling and porches were completely reconstructed and mosaics were brought there from [[Isfahan]] in order to decorate Imam al-Husayn's (a) and Abu l-Fadl al-'Abbas's (a) shrines. In this year, the upper part of the [[Qibla]] Portico (the Golden Portico) was gilded.

* In 1383/1963, the Reconstruction Committee of the shrine imported stones from Italy in order to construct the exterior walls of the shrine. In 1388/1968, pillars were imported from Iran and the old ceiling of the Portico was lifted. In 1392/1972, the reconstruction of the new Golden Portico started. In 1394/1974, the plan for the reconstruction and the harmonization of the courtyard was devised. The plan included the reconstruction of the portico, destruction of the western side of the courtyard and covering the walls with tiles. In 1395/1975, the reconstruction of Imam al-Husayn's (a) and Abu l-Fadl's (a) shrines continued, the walls of the courtyard were covered with tiles and a library and a museum were built on the western side. In 1396/1976, the Ministry of Endowment decorated and renewed the Golden Portico with tiles and inlays.<ref>Āl Ṭuʿma, ''Karbalā wa ḥaram-hā-yi muṭahhar'', p. 111-112.</ref>

* In recent years, a ceiling was built on the courtyard. This is why, the dome and the minarets of the shrine are no longer visible from a distance.<ref>[http://en.shabestan.ir/detail/News/34717 The project of increasing height of the dome of holy shrine of Imam Husain (A.S) has been started]</ref>

The courtyard of Imam al-Husayn's (a) shrine is the area including the porches of the shrine, also known as "jāmi'". Before 1948, bazaars and other buildings were adjacent to the shrine, with no street between them. In that year, a street was built around the shrine.

The interior of the courtyard was rectangular-shaped, with two small additional sides—in fact it was hexagonal, just like the [[darih]]. However, in the expansion of the shrine in 1947, the two additional sides—one in the southeastern part and the other in the northeastern part—were removed, and thus the courtyard looks like a rectangular from the inside, though it seems oval from the outside.

The whole area of the courtyard is 1500 square meters. There are 65 porches around the courtyard, and there is a chamber in each porch. The chambers belonged to the students of the Islamic seminary schools in order to discuss their studies there, and some of them were allocated to kings, rulers, governors, and Islamic scholars.<ref>Āl Ṭuʿma, ''Karbalā wa ḥaram-hā-yi muṭahhar'', p. 170-175.</ref>

The shrine's courtyard has some gates each opening to a district in Karbala. The gates are located under tall porticos decorated with tiles on which Quranic verses with the [[Kufic]] calligraphy are inscribed.

* '''Bab al-Salam''' (Arabic: {{ia|باب السلام}}, the greeting gate): it is located in the middle of the northern side, and it is called so because at this gate, people used to greet Imam al-Husayn (a).

Within ten meters from the south of the shrine, there are two large golden minarets that are about 25 meters high with four meter diameters. The two minarets were built in 786/1384-1385 during the period of Uways al-Jalayiri and his son, Ahmad.<ref>Āl Ṭuʿma, ''Karbalā wa ḥaram-hā-yi muṭahhar'', p. 190-191.</ref>

The Golden Portico is located on the southern side of the courtyard with a tall ceiling. It consists of three parts: the middle part which is the tallest and two shorter lateral parts. The part under the Portico is separated from the courtyard by metal fences that are located in the middle of pillars. People go inside the shrine from the two lateral sides. The walls of the Portico are coated with pure gold, and the upper parts of the walls are covered with tiles.<ref>Āl Ṭuʿma, ''Karbalā wa ḥaram-hā-yi muṭahhar'', p. 163.</ref>

* The western porch which used to be called the porch of 'Imran b. Shahin is now called the porch of [[Sayyid Ibrahim al-Mujab]]. This is because al-Sayyid Ibrahim, [[Imam Musa al-Kazim (a)|Imam Musa al-Kazim's (a)]] grandson, is buried there. Some Islamic scholars are also buried in the western porch.

* The northern porch was built by [[Shah Safi]], and is called the porch of the kings because Qajar kings are buried there.<ref>Qāʾidān, ''ʿAtabāt ʿālīyāt Iraq'', p. 122-123.</ref>

Thus the mausoleums of the martyrs of Banu Hashim are located besides 'Ali al-Akbar and below Imam al-Husayn's (a) feet. According to [[hadiths]], when [[Banu Asad]] buried the martyrs of Karbala, they buried the corpses of Banu Hashim—who had gathered in one camp—below Imam al-Husayn's (a) feet, and then some meters below that, they buried the other martyrs of Karbala.

All martyrs of Karbala —except [[Abu l-Fadl (a)]], [[Hurr b. Yazid al-Riyahi]], and [[Habib b. Muzahir]]— are buried near Imam al-Husayn's (a) grave on the southeastern side of his grave. These graves are located in a 12-meter chamber with an inlayed box and a silver window. Above the window there are tiles in which the names of 120 martyrs of Karbala and a prayer addressed to them are inscribed.<ref>Qummī, ''Amākin-i zīyāratī wa sīyāḥatī-yi Iraq'', p. 118-119.</ref>

Umm Musa, [[al-Mahdi al-'Abbasi]]'s mother, appointed some people as administrators of Imam al-Husayn's (a) shrine. She gave them salaries. [[Harun al-Rashid]] did the same. These people were the first boards of trustee of the shrine.

Since 'Alawis constituted the majority of people in Karbala, the governance of the city was in the hands of their naqib. A naqib or the head of [['Alawi sadat]] was of a high social and political ranking with special authorities. A person had to fulfill some requirements in order to occupy the position. It was specific to 'Alawi households and was transferred from one 'Alawi household to another provided that they satisfied some conditions. One of the most important tasks was the administration of 'Alawi affairs as well as Imam al-Husayn's (a) shrine.

After the fall of Baghdad by [[Mongols]] in 656/1258, there is little report of how the shrines of Imam al-Husayn (a) and Abu l-Fadl (a) were administered. In early 8th/14th century, some people from [[Banu Asad]], who could extend their dominance in the nearby territories, occupied the administration of the shrine.

The trusteeship was in the hands of non-'Alawis until late 13th/19th century. After that, it was controlled by Al Tu'ma household until the end of the Ottoman government and the subsequent periods.<ref>Āl Ṭuʿma, ''Karbalā wa ḥaram-hā-yi muṭahhar'', p. 217-220.</ref>

* A person should not say prayers ahead of the graves of [[the Prophet (s)]] and Imams (a). If saying prayers ahead of them counts as a case of disrespect, then it would be forbidden, though the prayer is not invalid (that is, it does not need to be said again). If there is barrier between the person and the grave, then there is no problem with saying prayers ahead of the graves, but the box of the [[darih]] or the cloth covering it do not count as barriers.<ref>Fallāḥ zādih, ''Aḥkām-i fiqhī-yi safar zīyāratī-yi ʿatabāt'', p. 17-18.</ref>

* It is forbidden to eat any kind of soil, except for a little bit of Imam al-Husayn's (a) soil for healing purposes.

* It is supererogatory to feed newborn babies with such a soil.

* It is obligatory to respect Imam al-Husayn's (a) soil, and it is forbidden to disrespect it in any ways, including: making it dirty, throwing it to a disrespectful place, and if it is thrown in a disrespectful place, it should be taken out.