The Mausoleum of Ali ( fa, مَقَام عَلِيّ, translit=Maqām ʿAlī), located in

Mazar-i-Sharif , official_name = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , pushpin_map = Afghanistan#Bactria#West Asia , pushpin_label = Mazar-i-Sharif , pushpin ...

, Afghanistan, is a

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, ...

which some Sufi Sunnis believe contains the tomb of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib. This site is visited particularly by Naqshbandi sufis. Many pilgrims annually celebrate

Nowruz Nowruz ( fa, نوروز, ; ), zh, 诺鲁孜节, ug, نەۋروز, ka, ნოვრუზ, ku, Newroz, he, נורוז, kk, Наурыз, ky, Нооруз, mn, Наурыз, ur, نوروز, tg, Наврӯз, tr, Nevruz, tk, Nowruz, ...

at 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.

History

The first structure of the site dates back to the Seljuk era. It was built by Sultan

Ahmad Sanjar Senjer ( fa, ; full name: ''Muizz ad-Dunya wa ad-Din Adud ad-Dawlah Abul-Harith Ahmad Sanjar ibn Malik-Shah'') (''b''. 1085 – ''d''. 8 May 1157) was the Seljuq ruler of Khorasan from 1097 until in 1118,Hanafi The Hanafi school ( ar, حَنَفِية, translit=Ḥanafiyah; also called Hanafite in English), Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools ( maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named a ...

Maturidi Māturīdī theology or Māturīdism ( ar, الماتريدية: ''al-Māturīdiyyah'') is one of the main Sunnī schools of Islamic theology, founded by the Persian Muslim scholar, Ḥanafī jurist, reformer (''Mujaddid''), and scholastic ...

scholar and mystic, Ali ibn Abi Talib al-Balkhi. He was a distant descendant of the fourth Rashidun caliph, Ali ibn Abi Talib. To honour the scholar, the Sultan built the mosque and shrine complex over his grave site. In the 13th century, the

Mongols The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal membe ...

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 the Mongols in the year 1220. In the 15th century, the Timurid

amir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...

, Sultan Husayn Bayqara, ordered a reconstruction of the destroyed building. Local legend relates that the Sultan and his assistants were digging in the area when they saw a tombstone reading "This is the grave of Asadullah Ghalib, the friend of Rasul Allah, Ali Waliullah" which the other people rejoiced upon seeing. In later years, various rulers made repairs and endowments, including the

Shaybanid The Shibanids or Shaybanids ( fa, سلسله شیبانیان) or more accurately the Abu'l-Khayrid-Shibanids were a Persianized''Introduction: The Turko-Persian tradition'', Robert L. Canfield, Turko-Persia in Historical Perspective, ed. Robert L ...

emir Abdul-Mo'min bin Abdullah Khan, who built a dome. Later,

Berdi Beg Berdi Beg or Berdibek ( fa, , tt-Latn, Möxämmät Bärdibäk) was Khan of the Golden Horde from 1357 to 1359, having succeeded his father Jani Beg. Berdi Beg was the last khan to rule before the beginning of a long cycle of civil wars in the ...

, the Khan of the

Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fragme ...

who reigned from 1357 to 1359, added several decorations to the building. In the modern era, a plan was created to renovate the whole complex in 1910.

Gallery

File:Men praying in Afghanistan.jpg, Muslim men praying during Ramadan, 2012. File:Blue Mosque - Shrine of Hazrat Ali.JPG, Entrance to one of the buildings. File:Nowruz in northern Afghanistan-2011.jpg, Distant view of the mosque in 2011. File:Blue Mosque - Shrine of Hazrat Al.JPG, White pigeons in the Blue Mosque's courtyard. File:Mazar-e Sharif - all blue.jpg, Close up. File:Mazar-e Sharif - Mosque.jpg, Persian-style

tile Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, walls, edges, or o ...

work. File:Mazar-e-Sharif (4268537856).jpg, A family feeding the pigeons

References

{{Authority control Mosques in Afghanistan Shrines in Afghanistan Buildings and structures in Balkh Province Mazar-i-Sharif

History

Gallery

See also

References