Holy Sites
- Karbala is reputed to be the city where Husayn, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, was martyred (his body but not head is buried there, and is known as Mashhad Husayn). Karbala is also the site of two important Shiite mosques, Al Abbass Mosque and Imam Hussain Mosque. Shiites observe a 40 day mourning period for this Imam every spring followed by a pilgrimage to this site.
- Najaf is the site of Ali ibn Abi Talib's tomb known to Shiites as "the wondrous place of martyrdom" and site of one of the world's largest and most important Muslim cemeteries. Najaf is also the site of Imam Ali Mosque one of the holiest Shi'ite mosques.
- Samarra is the site of Shiite Al Askari Mosque.
- Kadhimiya (north of Baghdad) is regarded as a holy city in Shia Islam. Musa al-Kazim and his grandson, the ninth Shia Imam, Muhammad at-Taqi are both buried there, and their tombs are contained in the Al Kadhimiya Mosque. Shia go on an annual pilgrimage to this shrine in August/September.
Read more about this topic: List Of Places In Iraq
Famous quotes containing the word holy:
“For them it’s out-of-date and outmoded to perform miracles; teaching the people is too like hard work, interpreting the holy scriptures is for schoolmen and praying is a waste of time; to shed tears is weak and womanish, to be needy is degrading; to suffer defeat is a disgrace and hardly fitting for one who scarcely permits the greatest of kings to kiss the toes of his sacred feet; and finally, death is an unattractive prospect, and dying on a cross would be an ignominious end.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)