Najaf (نجف in the Arabic language) is a city in Iraq, about 160 km south of Baghdad, located at 31.99°N 44.33°E. Its estimated population in 2003 was 585,600 people. It is the capital of Najaf province. It is one of the holiest cities of Shi'a Islam and the center of Shi'a political power in Iraq.1 Najaf's religious significance
Najaf is renowned as the site of the tomb of Ali ibn Abi Talib (also known as Imam Ali), who the Shi'a consider to be their founder and first Imam; however, some believe he is buried at Mazar-e Sharif in Afghanistan. The city is now a great center of pilgrimage from throughout the Islamic world. Only Mecca and Medina receive more Muslim pilgrims.
The Meshed Ali (Tomb of Ali) is housed in a grand structure with a gildedFor alternative meanings, see gold (disambiguation Gold is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Au ( L. aurum and atomic number 79. A soft, shiny, yellow, heavy, malleable, ductile (trivalent and univalent) transition metal, gold d dome and many precious objects in the walls. Nearby is the Wadi-us-SalaamWadi-us-Salaam (Valley of Peace) is the largest Islamic cemetery, and one of the largest cemeteries in the world. Located in Najaf, Iraq (one of Shiite Islam's holies cities), this cemetery holds many of Islam's Prophets, and is located near the Imam Ali (Valley of Peace), claimed to be the largest cemeteryGreen-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York A cemetery is a place (usually an enclosed area of land) in which dead bodies are buried. The term cemetery implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are t in the Muslim world (and possibly the largest in the entire world), containing the tombs of several other prophets. Many of the devout from other lands aspire to be buried here, to be raise from the dead with Imam Ali on Judgement Day. Over the centuries, numerous hospices, schools, libraries and Sufi convents were built around the shrine to make the city the centre of Shi'a learning and theology. Many of these were badly damaged during the rule of Saddam HusseinSaddm Hussein 'Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti Hussein also spelled Husayn and Hussain Arabic: ; born April 28, 1937 1) was President of Iraq from 1979 to 2003. A rising star in the revolutionary Ba'ath Party, which espoused secular Arab nationalism, economic mod, with a highway being driven through the middle of the Wadi-us-Salaam.
2 History
The city was reputedly founded in 791Events The Avars invade Europe again, but are defeated by Charlemagne in 796. Alfonso II becomes king of Asturias. Births Deaths 791. (178 A.H.) by the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid. Under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, Najaf experienced severe difficulties as the result of repeated raids by Arab desert tribes and acute water shortages caused by the lack of a reliable water supply. The number of inhabited houses in the city had plummeted from 3,000 to just 30 by the start of the 16th century. The city was besieged by the Wahhabis in the late 18th century. The water shortages were finally resolved in 1803 with the construction of the Hindiyya canal, following which the city's population rapidly doubled from 30,000 to 60,000. Even so, Najaf lost its religious primacy to the Iranian city of Qom in the 19th century and was not to regain it until the late 20th century.
The Ottomans were expelled in an uprising in 1915, following which the city fell under the rule of the British Empire. The sheikhs of Najaf rebelled in 1918, killing the British governor of the city and cutting off grain supplies to the Anaza, a tribe allied with the British. In retaliation the British besieged the city and cut off its water supply. The rebellion was put down and the rule of the sheikhs was forcibly ended.
