| Great Mosque of Kufa | |
|---|---|
مَسْجِد ٱلْكُوفَة ٱلْمُعَظَّم / ٱلْأَعْظَم | |
 The mosque in 2014 | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Shia Islam |
| Ecclesiastical or organizational status | Mosque andshrine |
| Status | Active |
| Location | |
| Location | Kufa,Najaf Governorate |
| Country | Iraq |
  Location of the mosque inIraq | |
 Interactive map of Great Mosque of Kufa | |
| Coordinates | 32°01′43″N44°24′03″E / 32.02861°N 44.40083°E /32.02861; 44.40083 |
| Architecture | |
| Type | Shi'i Mosque |
| Style | Islamic architecture Safavid(domes) |
| Founder | Saad Ibn Abi Waqqas |
| Completed |
|
| Specifications | |
| Interior area | 11,000 m2 (120,000 sq ft) |
| Dome | Two |
| Minaret | Four |
| Shrines | Three: |
| Materials | Bricks; marble; gold; silver |
| Website | |
| masjed-alkufa | |
TheGreat Mosque of Kufa (Arabic:مَسْجِد ٱلْكُوفَة ٱلْمُعَظَّم/ٱلْأَعْظَم,romanized: Masjid al-Muʿaẓẓam/al-ʾAʿaẓam), orMasjid al-Kufa, is aShi'itemosque andshrine, located inKufa, in theNajaf Governorate ofIraq. Completed in 670CE, it is one of the earliest surviving mosques in the world. The mosque was home toAli ibn Abi Talib, the 4thRashidun caliph; and contains the shrine ofMuslim ibn Aqeel, his companionHani ibn Urwa, and the revolutionary,Al-Mukhtar.[1] The mosque has been significantly rebuilt and restored multiple times in its history.
The first main mosque of Kufa was built with the city's foundation in 638 CE.[2][3] The original mosque had a square layout and many entrances, and was built alongside a governor's palace (Dar al-Imāra).[4] It featured a roofed colonnade and re-used columns from the nearby formerLakhmid capital ofal-Hira[5] and from former churches.[4] The governor's palace likely served as both a residential building and an administrative center.[4]
Ali ibn Abi Talib wasassassinated in the mosque in 661 CE. The family members of the firstShi'ite imams and their early supporters were buried within the mosque,[6] includingMuslim ibn Aqil andHani ibn Urwa.[5]
In 670, the governor of the city,Ziyad ibn Abihi, arranged for the mosque to be rebuilt in brick and expanded into a much more monumental form. Craftsmen from other regions were brought in and materials were imported fromAhwaz for the mosque's columns. The governor's palace, orDar al-Imara, adjacent to the south side of mosque, was also rebuilt.[7][4] Architectural excavations revealed that the mosque was built on top of much older foundations.[6][clarification needed]
It was in the Great Mosque of Kufa that the firstAbbasid caliph was formally proclaimed in 749.[7] By the 14th century, whenIbn Battuta visited the site, only the foundations of the old governor's palace still remained.[4] The mosque underwent various other restorations throughout its history.[7] The golden dome standing today over the tombs, as well as the surrounding tilework decoration, was added during theSafavid period in the 17th and 18th centuries.[5]
In 1998, head ofDawoodi Bohra community,Mohammed Burhanuddin started reconstructing and renovating the mosque.[8][9]: 97, 106 Work was completed in early 2010.[8] The renovation included decorations with gold and silver, themihrab being made with a goldzari, and the whole interior being surrounded with verse of theQur'an. In addition, the courtyard is covered in white marble fromMakrana, India.[8]
Today, the outer wall of the mosque, with semi-circular buttresses, probably dates from the early period of the building's history.[5][7] The building's floor level has also been raised from its earlier level.[7]
The area of the building measures approximately 11,000 square metres (120,000 sq ft).[10] The historic mosque has a quadrangular layout, measuring 110 by 112 by 109 by 112 metres (361 ft × 367 ft × 358 ft × 367 ft).[11] It has semi-circular bastions along its outer walls, three circular (three-quarter-round) towers at its corners, and historically had oneminaret, according to investigations of the site in the 20th century.[11] The present-day mosque has four minarets.[12] Small differences were found among the four walls of the mosque. The southern wall, which faced the Qibla, measured approximately 110 metres (360 ft) long. The back wall spanned 109 metres (358 ft), while the remaining two side walls measured 116 metres (381 ft) each. These walls, towering in height, were reinforced by semi-circular towers on their exteriors.[13]
The mosque has five gates: Gate of the Threshold (Bāb al-Sudda), Gate of Kinda (Bāb Kinda), Gate of al-Anmat (Bāb al-Anmāṭ), Gate of Hani ibn Urwa, and the Gate of the Snake (Bāb al-Thu‘bān) or Gate of the Elephant (Bāb al-Fīl).[14][10]
The historic mosque structure has similarities to the design of the palaces of pre-Islamic Persia.[6] According to a description byIbn al-Athir (d. 1233), its ceiling was taken from a Persian palace and resembled the ceiling of a Byzantine church.[15]
Archeological excavations in the 20th century revealed the presence of an even larger quadrangular structure, measuring 168.2 by 169.98 metres (551.8 by 557.7 ft), that was once attached to the south side of the mosque.[11] This structure has been identified as the Palace of Sa'd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ, which historical sources say was originally built at the same time as the original mosque after the city's foundation (c. 638 CE).[11] Also known as theQaṣr al-Imāra[11] orDar al-Imāra ('Palace of the Governor'), it was rebuilt by Ziyad ibn Abihi at the same time as the mosque in 670 CE.[4] Archeologists identified three main layers of construction at the site, which were often reconstructions along the same lines as the preceding layer. The remains of the palace are still visible today but are not generally accessible and are threatened by underground water seeping into the site.[11]
The palace was composed of an outer enclosure wall (attached to the mosque) and an inner enclosure (measuring approximately 110 by 110 metres (360 by 360 ft).[11] Like the mosque, the outer walls of these enclosures had semi-circular bastions and circular corner towers, although the oldest layer of construction at the inner enclosure featured square towers that were rebuilt in rounded form over the first foundations.[11] The inner enclosure, which was accessed via a main entrance on its north side, was filled with rooms and structures that were modified in several periods. Its main features included a central square courtyard from which a triple-arched entrance on each side led to other rooms.[11] The entrance on the south side led to a quadrangular hall with aniwan-like orbasilical layout divided by columns into three aisles. This led in turn to a large square chamber further south that was probably domed.[11][4]
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The Great Mosque of Kufa was the place where Ali ibn Abi Talib was fatally wounded by a poison-coated sword while prostrating in the Fajr prayer.[16] Also, the mosque contains the tombs of Muslim ibn Aqil, Hani ibn Urwa, and Al-Mukhtar. There are markers within the mosque indicating the locations for where the court ofAli used to preside, where he performed miracles, and whereZayn al-Abidin andJa'far al-Sadiq used to performSalah. Additionally, Islamic traditions relate that it was the dwelling place ofNuh (Noah) and that this was the place where he built theArk.[17] According to Shia belief, it was from this mosque that thediluvium of Noah started submerging earth, as well as being the place from where the water was re-absorbed[18]—also marked within the mosque. Ja'far al-Sadiq said that up to nineteen kilometres (twelve miles) of land in all directions from the mosque are blessed by its holiness.[17] Ja'far al-Sadiq was also recorded as remarking that the "mosque in Kufa is superior to that of Jerusalem"[19] and that "performing two prostrations of prayer here would be better for me than ten others at any mosque."[17] There are also Shia traditions which state that performing oneobligatory prayer in this mosque is the same as having performed one thousand prayers elsewhere,[20] and performing one obligatory prayer here is equal to having performed an acceptedHajj.[21] The secretariat of Al-Kufa Mosque and its shrines describes the mosque as being one of the sole four dignified mosques to which Muslims must travel, and that it comes in third place after the Kaaba and the mosque of Prophet."[22] Lastly, according to Shia belief, it is from this mosque that the messianictwelfth Imam,Muhammad al-Mahdi, will rule the world, and it will serve as the seat of his power in the end of times.
the fight for jerusalem.
It is the one the sole four dignified mosques, to which Muslims must travel, and it comes in the third place after the Mosque the Kaaba, the mosque of Prophet
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