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

al-'Abbas (a) was martyred on [[Muharram 10]], [[61]]/680 when confronting with the army of [['Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad]].

[[al-Ma'mun]] who took the power in [[198]]/813, began a friendly relation with Shia; thus, Shia used this opportunity and the second building of the shrine was built at the time of al-Ma'mun. In [[232]]/847, [[al-Mutawakkil]] became the [[caliph]]. He ordered to destroy not only the Shrines of Imam al-Husayn (a) and al-'Abbas (a) but the whole city of Karbala. After destruction of the city, he ordered to plough the whole area and let it filled with water.

After the establishment of [[Jalayirid]] government in [[Iran]], when Shaykh Hasan Ilkani came to power in [[740]]/1339-40, Sultan Uways (Shaykh Hasan's son) began repairing the shrine which finished in [[786]]/1384 and many gifts were sent to the shrine through Iran.

[[Shah Isma'il Safavi]] victoriously entered Baghdad on [[Jumada II 25]], [[914]]/ [[October 31]], 1508 and was well received by Shias. The next day, he went toward Karbala and sat in the Holy Shrine of Imam al-Husayn (a) for one whole day. He then went to the shrine of al-'Abbas (a) and ordered to make extensive repairs on the shrine. He also gifted twelve cylinders of pure gold he had brought with himself from Iran to the shrine of al-'Abbas (a). He ordered to cover the floor of the whole shrine with valuable silk carpets woven in [[Isfahan]] and employed a special team of servants for the maintenance and lighting the cresset of the shrine whose descendants are known today in Karbala as Al Qandil. Isma'il Safavi also ordered the tiling of the dome as well which was still remaining until [[1302]]/1884-5.

After the attack of [[Wahhabi]]s to Karbala, people of Iran with the help of the government at the time of [[Fath Ali Shah Qajar]] made great donation to the city and repaired all the destructions Wahhabis had made. The shrine of al-'Abbas (a) was also repaired and the silver Darih Fath Ali Shah had gifted was installed in [[1227]]/1812.

Repairs of the shrine were not stopped during the rule of [[Qajar]] and [[Nasir al-Din Shah]] ordered the renewal of tilework of the dome. In 1304/1886-7, the tilework of the courtyard finished and the tilework of the dome was finished in 1305/1887-8. Also, 'Abd al-Husayn Tihrani, known as Shaykh al-'Iraqayn made extensive repairs in the shrine using [[Mirza Taqi Khan Amir Kabir]]'s bequeatheable one-third of his property.

The shrine of al-'Abbas (a) is located 378 meters north-east of the [[Holy Shrine of Imam al-Husayn (a)]] and [[Bayn al-Haramayn]] is the place connecting the two shrines. The burial place of [[al-'Ababs b. Ali (a)]] is located in the middle of the shrine and over it a gifted exquisite Khatam box is placed on which some repairs have been made over time.

Over the box, the silver [[darih]] is placed which was made during three years by Iranian artists and the help of [[Sayyid Muhsin al-Hakim]] and was installed in [[1385]]/1965-6. The new darih was made using four hundred thousand Mithqals (a unit of mass equal to 4.25 grams) of pure silver and eight thousand Mithqals of gold . There are four symmetric rawaqs at the four sides of the shrine which are joined at their ends. The ceiling and all the walls the shrine and rawaqs have mirror-works on them made by Iranian artists. Over darih, a great dome is built gold plating which was finished in [[1375]]/1955-6.

The shrine of al-'Abbas (a) has four rawaqs which surround darih from four sides: the north rawaq is used to enter the basement and the holy grave and it is said that it has been overlooking [['Alqama Stream]]. The south rawaq having three doors opened to the golden portico.

The area of the courtyard of Abu l-Fadl's (a) shrine is 9300 square meters and the area of the whole shrine, including rawaqs, the place under the dome and the portico, is 4370 square meters. The great courtyard has four porticos. At the top of the north portico there is an epigraph which includes the date [[1304]]/1886-7. The courtyard has four sides and at each side, there are small rooms which are totally 75.

Over the shrine of Abu l-Fadl (a), there is a dome with the diameter of 12 meters different with other domes. It is a semi-circle dome with a sharp tip and a taller bottom from which windows with arches and sharp tips open outside. Inside the dome in the bottom part is dark purple on which verses of the glorious Qur'an are written in white.

In [[1375]]/1955-6, the dome was gold-plated. In that year, al-Shaykh Muhammad Khatib sent a telegram to the prime minister of Iraq, Muhammad Fadil Jamali, and asked to plate the dome with gold. Consequently, gold-plating the dome was done and based on documents available in Awqaf management of [[Karbala]], 6418 bricks of gold have been used on the dome. In the interior of the dome, some verses of the Qur'an are inscribed with mirror-works. The height of the dome is 39 meters from the ground.

In the shrine of al-'Abbas (a), there are precious articles which are priceless including precious carpets, carpets woven by gold threads or having gems, golden chandeliers, inlaid swords, golden clocks, clocks made of ebony woods and alike.

There is a water spring surrounding and under the grave of al-'Abbas (a). Since 50 years ago, the water level has been intact and using its water does not change its level. The water level is one meter above the grave but it does not enter the grave area. The entrance to water channel in the shrine of al-'Abbas (a) is currently closed.

Management of the shrine is among important positions between the time of [[Buyid]]s and [[Safavid]]s and at the time of Safavids, it became much more important. Since 10th/16th century , some people living in Karbala have orders from Safavid kings for management of the shrine. During the rule of [[Ottoman]]s in Iraq, names of some managers and servants of the shrines of Imam al-Husayn (a) and al-'Abbas (a) were registered in a special record. However sometimes, when the managers are [[Sayyid]], they also have the position of leadership of Alavis and thus become the ruler of Karbala and sometimes they are only managers of the shrine and the leader of Alavis would be someone else. Only towards the end of the rule of Safavids and the beginning of the rule of Ottomans over [[Iraq]], there were non-Alavi managers for the shrine.