Overview

The Wadi-us-Salaam cemetery of Najaf, among the widest and most continuously used burial grounds in the Islamic world. Nuzhat al-Ghari relates that the believer's soul is settled in Wadi-us-Salaam, and records the reading 'Wadi al-Salama' — valley of safety for whomever is buried in it ¹.

Its nearness to the shrine of Ali ibn Abi Talib (may God be pleased with him) made it the preferred burial ground for Twelver Shi'a, and generations of Najaf's scholars and people lie in it.

Imam Ali shrine (Najaf)

The Imam Ali shrine at Najaf, the Haydariyya sanctuary over the grave of Ali ibn Abi Talib; the Mawsu'at al-Atabat records its court at 84 m on the east and west sides, 74 m north and 75 m south, with 15 iwans on the north and east sides and 14 on the west and south — their cells built as lodging for students — and five gates: the great east gate facing the Souk al-Kabir, the Bab al-Tusi to the north named for Shaykh al-Tusi (d. 460 AH), the Bab al-Qibla south, and the Bab al-Sultani opened in 1279 AH under Sultan Abdülaziz; the dome rises 35 m with a base circumference of some 50 m and diameter near 16 m, and Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi commissioned the sanctuary's mirror-work at his own expense for about 12,000 dinars; among its gates are the golden iwan door set up around 1219 AH at the cost of Haj Muhammad Husayn Khan al-Isfahani and two gold doors of 1376 AH funded by Haj Muhammad Taqi al-Tihrani.

Wadi-us-Salaam cemetery

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Overview

Opinions on the question

First opinion · Sunni tradition (the museum's frame)Main reference

Academic viewSecondary opinion

Shia (Twelver) viewOther opinion

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Imam Ali shrine (Najaf)