The Shrine of Imam Ali, found in Najaf, Southern Iraq, is amongst the holiest sites for Shia muslims. This makes the city the fourth holiest to Shia after Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem, Palestine.
It is here that the body of Imam Ali, Prophet Mohamed’s cousin, first Shia Imam after him and fourth Caliph of the Sunni, was enshrined after Ali was martyred. The martyrdom of Imam Ali being the cause of the separation between Shia and Sunni.
Millions of Muslims come every year to this shrine as pilgrim to kiss the dhari (sort of cage) of the tomb of the Imam where Shia
Sayyida Ruqayya Holy Shrine at Damascus, Syriabelievers make penance for the murder of Ali. The shrine, certainly one of the most lavish of the whole Muslim world, with its incredible portals covered of small mirror tiles, is a sight to behold, second only to the processions which go around it every Friday. While the original shrine was built just after Imam Ali’s death, in the second century, the shrine has witnessed multiple renovation and nowadays the city is seeing rearrangement to accommodate the growing number of pilgrims visiting each year, with their number expected to reach 20 millions a year sooner than later.
While it has been damaged both during Saddam Hussein’s era in the first Gulf War as well as recently in 2006.
The Sacred: Spatial Features of the Religious Discourse
