Wadi-us-Salaam ( Arabic : وادي السلام , romanized : Wādī s-Salām , Arabic pronunciation: [ˈwaːdi‿s.saˈlaːm] , lit. ' Valley of Peace ' ) is an Islamic cemetery , located in the holy city of Najaf , Iraq . It is the largest cemetery in the world. The cemetery covers 1,485.5 acres (601.16 ha ; 6.01 km ; 2.32 sq mi ) and contains more than 6 million bodies. It also attracts millions of pilgrims annually.
12-450: The cemetery is located near the shrine of Ali ibn Abi Talib , the fourth Sunni Caliph, as well as the first Shia Imam. Thus, many Shi'ites in Iraq request that they be buried in this cemetery. As a result of improved transportation methods, Shi'ites from across the globe are (or seek to be) buried in the cemetery. However, to be buried at the cemetery, one has to be interred inside one of
24-496: Is believed that prophets Hud and Salih are buried here, according to some narrations. Shi'ites are encouraged to bury their dead at the location through religious edicts and the cemetery's expansion is also seen as being a result of Shi'isms "more permissive attitude than Sunnism with regard to the commemoration of the dead and the erection of mausoleums." Religious rituals practiced at Wadi-us-Salaam before burial include: Daily burials have been on going for over 1,400 years and
36-475: Is buried in this cemetery. His successor, Muhammad-Sadiq al-Sadr is also buried there, and his grave is one of the most visited tombs in the cemetery. First built in the 18th century under request of Moḥammad Mahdī Baḥr al-ʿUlūm over the purported tombs of Hud and Salih based on Shi'ite narrations. It was restored in the years 1918 to 1919 after the British desecrated it in 1917. A full new reconstruction
48-687: The Mongols in the year 1220. In the 15th century, the Timurid amir , Sultan Husayn Bayqara , ordered a reconstruction of the destroyed building. In later years, various rulers made repairs and endowments, including the Shaybanid emir Abd al-Mu'min ibn Abd Allah Khan , who built a dome. Later, Berdi Beg , the Khan of the Golden Horde who reigned from 1357 to 1359, added several decorations to
60-627: The Wonders of North Africa ), and established a genre of books of wonder in Arabic. Many of the things he saw and wrote about were embellished with fantastic details. Al-Gharnati's family is thought to have fled Granada to escape the reign of the Almoravid emir Yusuf ibn Tashfin . He travelled from Iberia to Egypt and Syria in 1106, reaching Alexandria in 1115 via Sardinia and Sicily, writing about Mount Etna . He moved to Baghdad in 1123. He lived with
72-558: The building. In the modern era, a plan was created to renovate the whole complex in 1910. Abu Hamid al-Gharnati Abu Hamid al-Gharnati (full name: Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Sulayman ibn Rabi al-Māzinī al-Qaysi ; c. 1080 – 1170) was an Andalusian traveller from Granada who travelled around eastern and central Europe, and wrote about his travels in an Arabic travelogue, Tuhfat al-Albab ("Gift of Hearts"). He also wrote about spectacular places and things in al - Mu’rib ‘an ba’d ‘aja’ib al-Maghreb ( Praise of Some of
84-615: The cemetery annually from across the globe. This figure is an increase on the approximately 20,000 bodies, primarily from Iran, that used to be interred annually in the early 20th century. Most Iraqi and many Iranian Shi'ites have a relative buried in the cemetery. As of 2014—coinciding with conflict against ISIL —it has been reported that burial plots are running out, resulting in many being stolen, illegally resold or improvised. According to one gravedigger: "I've never had it so busy. Not even after 2003 or 2006 [the height of Iraq's civil war ]." The Grand Ayatollah , Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr ,
96-584: The shared crypts in the cemetery. Shi'ites traditions hold that Abraham bought land in Wadi-us-Salaam, and that Ali had said the Wadi Al-Salaam was a part of heaven. Shia also widely believe that Ali has the power to intercede for the deceased—lessening their suffering—during the passage of their soul from the worldly life and if they are buried there, they will be raised from the dead on judgment day with their spiritual leader. Additionally, it
108-757: The site is on the Tentative List of UNESCO's World Heritage sites . Burials in Najaf have been documented as early as the Parthian and Sassanid eras and ancient Mesopotamian cities often had similar cemeteries, where there was an accumulation of tombs. The cemetery saw heavy fighting during the 2004 Battle of Najaf . It is estimated that during the Iraq War , about 200 to 250 corpses were buried there daily; however, in 2010 this number had decreased to less than 100. Approximately 50,000 new bodies are interred in
120-566: The site. At the annual Jahenda Bala ceremony a flag is raised in honour of Alī. People touch the flag for supposed luck in the New Year. The earliest surviving source stating Ali to be buried in Balkh is Tuhfat al-Albab of the Andalusian traveller Abu Hamid al-Gharnati ( d. 1170 ). Abd al-Ghafur Lari wrote that Muhammad al-Baqir , the fifth Shia imam, assigned Abu Muslim
132-623: The task of transferring Ali's body to the Khurasan, though this is likely apocryphal. The first structure of the site dates back to the Seljuk era. It was built by Sultan Ahmad Sanjar in the 11th century. In the 13th century, the Mongols under Genghis Khan invaded Balkh, where they massacred the Balkhi population and destroyed their places of worship. The mosque built by Sanjar was destroyed by
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#1732773181353144-515: Was started in 2018. Site dedicated to Imam al-Mahdi . Site dedicated to Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq . Imam Ali Mosque The Mausoleum of Ali ( Persian : مقام علی , romanized : Maqām ʿAlī ) or Blue Mosque (مسجد کبود), located in Mazar-i-Sharif , Afghanistan, is a shrine purportedly housing the tomb of Caliph Ali , the first Imam of Shia Muslims ( r. 656–661 ). Many pilgrims annually celebrate Nowruz at
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