Bibi Shahrbanu Shrine ( fa, آرامگاه بی‌بی‌شهربانو) is a shrine located near

Shahr-e Ray Shahr-e Ray ( fa, شهر ری, ) or simply Ray (Shar e Ray; ) is the capital of Ray County in Tehran Province, Iran. Formerly a distinct city, it has now been absorbed into the metropolitan area of Greater Tehran as the 20th district of municip ...

, a southern suburb of

Tehran, Iran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the Capital city, capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is th ...

. The shrine is located outside the present town on the slope of a small mountain range extending eastwards, known by the name of Mount Tabarak or Kuh-e Ray or also Kuh-e Bibi Sharbanu. The oldest parts of the shrine date from the 15th century, shortly before 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 ...

period. Researchers have discussed, if the name of the shrine and the location could point to an earlier pre-Islamic holy site, possible a sanctuary of the goddess

Anahita Anahita is the Old Persian form of the name of an Iranian goddess and appears in complete and earlier form as ('), the Avestan name of an Indo-Iranian cosmological figure venerated as the divinity of "the Waters" (Aban) and hence associate ...

.For this and other details rf the entry ŠAHRBĀNU in Encyclopedia Islamica However, because it is being utilized solely for Islamic purposes it is considered an Islamic building. Similarly, the

Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia ( 'Holy Wisdom'; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque ( tr, Ayasofya-i Kebir Cami-i Şerifi), is a mosque and major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The cathedral was originally built as a Greek Ortho ...

is a building which also has been converted for Islamic purposes.

Legend

According to local popular legend a daughter of the last Sassanian King

Yazdgerd III Yazdegerd III (also spelled Yazdgerd III and Yazdgird III; pal, 𐭩𐭦𐭣𐭪𐭥𐭲𐭩) was the last Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 632 to 651. His father was Shahriyar and his grandfather was Khosrow II. Ascending the throne at the ...

became a wife to

Hussein ibn Ali Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, أبو عبد الله الحسين بن علي بن أبي طالب; 10 January 626 – 10 October 680) was a grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a son of Ali ibn Abi ...

, the grandson of the Islamic prophet

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...

and the 3rd Shia Imam. She was present at the

Battle of Karbala The Battle of Karbala ( ar, مَعْرَكَة كَرْبَلَاء) was fought on 10 October 680 (10 Muharram in the year 61 AH of the Islamic calendar) between the army of the second Umayyad Caliph Yazid I and a small army led by Husayn ...

and could escape after

Ashura Ashura (, , ) is a day of commemoration in Islam. It occurs annually on the 10th of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar. Among Shia Muslims, Ashura is observed through large demonstrations of high-scale mourning as it marks the ...

. Pursued by her enemies she reached up to Ray in Iran. On the slope of the mountain her enemies threatened to get hold of her. With the last of her strength she asked God to deliver her and the mountain miraculously opened and gave refuge to the princess. However, a tail of her dress remained wedged in the rock when it closed behind her. When her pursuers and other people found the cloth in the rock, they realised the miracle and acknowledged Sharbanu as a saint. Very similar stories, however, are also told about other locations.

References

Sources

* * * Mosques in Iran Shia shrines Buildings and structures in Tehran Province {{Tehran Province

Legend

See also

References

Sources