| Shrine of Ali | |
|---|---|
مقام علي | |
 The shrine as photographed in 2012 | |
  Location within Afghanistan | |
| General information | |
| Type | Mausoleum |
| Location | Mazar, Afghanistan |
| Country |  Afghanistan |
| Coordinates | 36°42′30″N67°06′40″E / 36.70833°N 67.11111°E /36.70833; 67.11111 |
| Named for | Ali (r. 656–661) |
| Completed | c. 10th–16th century CE |
| Known for | Purported resting place of the Rashidun caliph |
TheMausoleum of Ali (Persian:مقام علی,romanized: Maqām ʿAlī) orBlue Mosque (مسجد کبود), located inMazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, is a shrine purportedly housing the tomb of CaliphAli, the firstImam ofShia Muslims (r. 656–661).
Many pilgrims annually celebrateNowruz at the site. At the annualJahenda Bala ceremony a flag is raised in honour of Alī. People touch the flag for supposed luck in the New Year.[1][2]
The earliest surviving source stating Ali to be buried in Balkh isTuhfat al-Albab of the Andalusian travellerAbu Hamid al-Gharnati (d. 1170).[3] Abd al-Ghafur Lari wrote thatMuhammad al-Baqir, the fifth Shia imam, assignedAbu Muslim the task of transferring Ali's body to the Khurasan, though this is likely apocryphal.[4]
The first structure of the site dates back to the Seljuk era. It was built by SultanAhmad Sanjar in the 11th century. In the 13th century, theMongols underGenghis 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.[5]
In the 15th century, the Timuridamir,Sultan Husayn Bayqara, ordered a reconstruction of the destroyed building.[6]
In later years, various rulers made repairs and endowments, including theShaybanid emirAbd al-Mu'min ibn Abd Allah Khan, who built a dome. Later,Berdi Beg, theKhan of theGolden Horde 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.[7]
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