Al-Kadhimiya Mosque ( ar, مَسْجِد ٱلْكَاظِمِيَّة, Masjid Al-Kāẓimiyyah) or Al-Kadhimayn Shrine ( ar, حَرَم ٱلْكَاظِمَيْن, Ḥaram Al-Kāẓimayn) is a

Shi'ite Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most ...

Islamic Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ma ...

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

and

shrine A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon, or similar figure of respect, wherein they ...

located in the Kādhimayn suburb of

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. It contains the tombs of the seventh and ninth

Twelver Twelver Shīʿīsm ( ar, ٱثْنَا عَشَرِيَّة; '), also known as Imāmīyyah ( ar, إِمَامِيَّة), is the largest branch of Shīʿa Islam, comprising about 85 percent of all Shīʿa Muslims. The term ''Twelver'' refers t ...

Shī'ī Imāms, respectively Mūsā al-Kāẓim and his grandson

Muhammad al-Jawad Muhammad ibn Ali al-Jawad ( ar, محمد بن علي الجواد, Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Jawād, – 29 November 835) was a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the ninth of the Twelve Imams, succeeding his father, Ali al-Rid ...

. Also buried within the premises of this mosque are the historical scholars Shaykh Mufīd and Shaykh Naṣīr ad-Dīn aṭ-Ṭūsi. Directly adjacent to the mosque are two smaller shrines, belonging to the brothers Sayyid Raḍī (who compiled Nahjul-Balāghah) and Sayyid Murtadā and Qadi Abu Yusuf al-Ansari.

History

The mosque is built on the site of the Qureish cemetery, which was created with the original Round City of Baghdad in 762 AD. This cemetery became the burial site of the seventh

imam

Musa al-Kadhim Musa ibn Ja'far al-Kazim ( ar, مُوسَىٰ ٱبْن جَعْفَر ٱلْكَاظِم, Mūsā ibn Jaʿfar al-Kāẓim), also known as Abū al-Ḥasan, Abū ʿAbd Allāh or Abū Ibrāhīm, was the seventh Imam in Twelver Shia Islam, after hi ...

in 799 AD, followed by his grandson, the ninth imam

, in 834 AD. The current building dates to the restoration carried out by the

Safavid Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...

shah

Ismail I Ismail I ( fa, اسماعیل, Esmāʿīl, ; July 17, 1487 – May 23, 1524), also known as Shah Ismail (), was the founder of the Safavid dynasty of Safavid Iran, Iran, ruling as its King of Kings (''Shahanshah'') from 1501 to 1524. His re ...

from 1502–1524. It was further ornamented by the Ottoman sultan

Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I ( ota, سليمان اول, Süleyman-ı Evvel; tr, I. Süleyman; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the West and Suleiman the Lawgiver ( ota, قانونى سلطان سليمان, Ḳ ...

after he conquered Baghdad in 1534. Since then, it has continued to be kept in a state of good repair.

Repairs and maintenance

Inner structure

Repairs to the crumbling structure of the main courtyard of the mosque and its surrounding rooms were carried out in three phases, spanning a period of four months, before the end of 2007. The project entailed the stripping off of the old crumbling walls throughout the courtyard, the addition of various reinforcements to the walls and ceilings, as well as maintenance on the electrical wirings throughout the mosque. Once the inner structure was completed, the floors and walls were then plated in various kinds of marble. Updates to the cooling units of the mosque began in late 2008, and new water filtration units were installed on November 28, 2008. Construction on the new ladies entrance to the mosque, that is ''Bāb al- Fāṭimah'' ( ar, بَاب ٱلْفَاطِمَة), began in late 2008, along with the construction work for new rooms to the mosque meant for serving refreshments to

pilgrim A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) who is on a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journey (often on foot) to some place of special significance to the adherent of ...

Outer structure

Among the earliest of repairs done to the mosque, after the fall of the regime of

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutio ...

, were repairs done to one of the entrance gates of the mosque known as ''Bāb al- Qiblah'' ( ar, بَاب ٱلْقِبْلَة). The gate and the outer wall had to be entirely refurbished because of the severe neglect they had withstood, and took seven months to complete, having started in early September 2006. The golden dome over the grave of

Muhammad at-Taqī Abū al-Ḥusayn Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl ( ar, أحمد بن عبد اللّه بن محمد بن إسماعيل), better known as Muḥammad al-Taqī (born , died , Salamiyah, Syria, Imam: –) is the ninth Ismā� ...

was re-gilded and unveiled to the public in March 2008, during the birthday celebrations of

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mon ...

and his descendant, Ja‘far as-Sādiq. Repair work on the dome over the grave of Mūsā al-Kādhim began in early August 2008, during the birthday ceremonies of Husayn ibn ‘Alī, ‘Abbās ibn ‘Alī, and ‘Alī ibn Husayn.

Recent timeline

Gallery

References

External links

History of the Shrine at Kadhimayn
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kadhimiya Shia shrines

Kadhimiya Kadhimiya ( ar, ٱلْكَاظِمِيَّة, al-Kāẓimiyyah, ) or Kadhimayn (, ) is a northern neighbourhood of the city of Baghdad, Iraq. It is about from the city's center, on the west bank of the Tigris. 'Kadhimiya' is also the name of on ...

Mausoleums in Iraq Tourist attractions in Iraq Mosques in Baghdad Safavid architecture Islamic holy places Shrines in Iraq Al-Kadhimayn