Great Mosque of Kufa

The Great Mosque of Kufa (Masjid al-Kufa) in Najaf Governorate, Iraq, is one of the earliest surviving mosques in the Islamic world. A first mosque was laid out alongside the governor's palace (Dar al-Imara) when Kufa was founded in 638 CE, reusing columns salvaged from the former Lakhmid capital of al-Hira and from earlier churches; the structure seen today dates largely to a rebuilding around 670 CE, with its golden dome added during the Safavid period in the 17th-18th centuries. Ranked by tradition as the fourth-holiest mosque in Islam after Masjid al-Haram, the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, and al-Aqsa, it served as the seat of Imam Ali during his caliphate and is the site of his assassination in 661 CE while prostrating in prayer. The mosque grounds hold the tombs of Muslim ibn Aqeel (cousin and envoy of Imam Hussain, executed in Kufa before Karbala), his host and protector Hani ibn Urwa, and the later revolutionary Mukhtar al-Thaqafi, who avenged Hussain's killers. Shia tradition also links the site to the prophets Adam and Noah, holding that Noah's ark was built here. The complex covers roughly 11,000 square metres with a quadrangular courtyard, four minarets, and five named gates, and underwent a major renovation completed in 2010 that added gold and silver ornamentation, a gold-inlaid mihrab, and a white marble courtyard. Shia tradition holds that the mosque will serve as the seat of government of Imam al-Mahdi upon his return.

Photographs

The Great Mosque of Kufa, one of the earliest mosques in Islam, in Kufa, Iraq.

Photo by David Stanley, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (originally Flickr)