Religious Tourism

66Islamic Tourism – Issue 17 – May-June / 2005 For more information, visit our website www.islamictourism.com

Report - Walid Abdulamir AlwanPhotos - Fadel Abbas Al-Salami

Baghdad (or the "House of the Peace") is certainly a historic city with numerous mausoleums of prophets, imams andsaints. It is also the city of historic mosques with their minarets and blue domes, which make it a city of piety andbeauty. Baghdad is the center of religious movements and various Islamic trends. It is from this city that the mostinfluential soufi movements sprang and endowed Islamic culture with new spirituality and knowledge. The followers ofthese movements called for the renouncement of the material aspects of life, and recommended austerity andperfection of the soul so that it merges in God's love. And, it is in Baghdad that the main sheikhs of this current, As-Sahrourdi, Maarouf Al-Karkhi and Abdul-Qader Al-Jilani were buried.

The Qadirya Mausoleum The Qadirya Mausoleum

Shrine of a famous sufi leader

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The women’s section.

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Religious Tourism

To the east of Baghdad, called "Al-Rosafa" or"Assawb al-kabir" (because it is larger thanthe west side on the Tigris named "AssawbAssaghir"), in Bab Al-Sheik ", is themausoleum of the founder of the kadiri order,one of the most famous and far reachingsoufi currents in the world, Sheikh Abdul-Qader Al-Jilani. It is one of the bestexamples of Iraq’s Islamic architecture,where the traditional domes of bricks andgypsum mix admirably with the new falsedomes and Italian marble.

A short biography of Al-Jilani

Sheikh Abu Saleh Abdul-Qader Al-HanbaliAl-Bashtiri Al-Jilani, a descendent of ImamHassan Ben Ali Ben Abi Tale, was born inJilan, one of the suburbs of the Iranian city ofResht, in 470 HS. He traveled to Baghdadand studied under Abu Said Al-Makhrami, anascetic religious scholar who directed afamous religious school in Bab Al-Azaj (nowBab Al-Sheik). His intelligence soon becameapparent and sponsorship and patronagewas forthcoming.Sheikh Jilani dedicated himself to teachingand sermons, surpassing his teachers in theobservation of piety, renouncement ofmaterial things and up-holding hisprinciples. He recommended the friendlywelcome of strangers and asceticism andsoon became a famous and venerablesheikh with supernatural power, whoattracted many followers.The "Qadirya Order" which he established isone of the most influential soufi orders, withan international following. It teaches love,tolerance, austerity and the rejection ofviolence. The followers have their own way ofgaining adherents.Sheikh Abdul-Qader remained at his school,especially during the last years of his life,because of the conflicts between the Islamicsects of the time. He died in 561 A. H./1166A. D. and was buried, as he decreed, in theschool. He left 12 children, of which only onewas a girl.

The Kadirya Mausoleum

Because of Al-Jilani

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s reputation andholiness, which is recognized by the entireMoslem world, there is a great interest in histomb, which is visited by thousands ofpeople, especially Indians. The tomb was ina small room of the school but part of thebuilding was transformed into a mosque thathas been expanding over the years. Amarvelous dome was built on the winterprayer room. The biggest dome in Iraq builtin 941 A.H/ 1534 A.D is white and hasimpressive dimensions and splendidarchitecture and decorations which can beseen from afar. It has been repainted fromtime to time. In 1970, it was extensivelyrestored: the blue dome was renewed andother domes, decorated with Qashani, werebuilt close to the white dome.

The kadirya Mausoleumtoday

This mausoleum is considered one of thelargest holy places in Iraq, with its numerousinternal and external additions. It has a bigesplanade and a "musalla" (place of prayer)capable of welcoming 1,100 persons. It issurrounded by a building on two levelsconsisting of 66 modern, furnished rooms,serving as residences for the sheikhs. Thereare also other rooms for the soufi "Dhikr"ritual (recitation), that is usually held onFriday evenings, or on some religiousoccasions, such as the Mouloud (birthday ofthe Prophet), or at the time of the burial of thesheikhs and eminent personalities. This

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The Mausoleum of al-Jilani.

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Religious Tourism

esplanade has an underground entranceleading to the ancient souk underneath,where traditional items, such as rosaries,Korans and some prayer and dhikr booksare sold. It is endowed with three minarets:the most recent has a marble basedecorated with granite; one of the other twohas a beautiful clock on top, installed in 1898by Abdul-Rahman Al-Naqib, Prime Ministerof the first Iraqi government. This imposingclock, 30m in height, was made in Mumbai.There are two gates at the western andeastern ends of this esplanade, which havebeen restored recently: the western gateleads to Bab Al-Sheik, and the eastern gateto Bab Al-Sharji zone.

The pavilion and themausoleum

Before entering the mausoleum, there is avast hall where one finds the Hanafi prayerroom. It is about 225 m

and capable ofwelcoming 800 persons. The hall has abeautiful mihrab decorated with Koranicverses, and an original minbar, with sevensteps, covered with marble, which replacedthe wooden one. Some criticized thechange, believing it weakened theconsecrated minbar which was used bymany sheikhs and scholars. There are alsoguest rooms for the the sheikhs, and for"Dhikr" sessions. Friday prayers are usuallyheld in this hall. This holy place has aninternal door that leads to the Shafii andMaleki Harams. The outside door of thisharam is made of beautifully engraved wood.Women are also catered for with a haramcapable of accommodating 500worshippers.It is characterized by the large number ofmarble columns and beautiful motifsdecorating the ceilings and the top of thewalls.At the end of a small alley crossing themiddle of this hall is the mausoleum. It isinside a small room and women enterthrough a lateral door. It appears that theausterity to which Sheikh Abdul-Qader Jilanihad become accustomed when he was alivestayed with him after his death. Themausoleum only has a square silver wirefencing over the tomb, surrounded by an ironwall at its left base in order to separate maleand female visitors. It may be small but thisdoes not detract from the feeling ofsacredness and serenity. The mausoleum isvisited by thousands of pilgrims from Iraq,India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. There is alarge influx of visitors during Mouloud andthe birthday of Sheikh Abdul-Qader Al-Jilani- one month after the birthday of the Prophet- as well as on the Night of Destiny, the Nightof Al-Israa wa Al-Mi'raj, the night of themiddle of Shaaban, the 10th day ofMoharram and on Friday nights.

Famous personalitiesburied at Al-Jilanimausoleum

A number of famous Iraqi personalities andreligious figures are buried in thismausoleum, among them the two sons ofSheikh Abdul-Qader Al-Jilani, Abdul-Jabbarand Salih. They are buried in separatemausoleum closed by an iron door and onlyaccessible to certain visitors. Themausoleum is also the burial place of Abdul-Rahman Al-Naqib Al-Jilani, the first IraqiPrime Minister during the time of themonarchy and Rashid Aali Al-Jilani, anotherprime minister and instigator of the 1941coup which carried his name. Abdul-MuhsinAs-Saadoun, another prime minister duringthe time of the monarchy, is also buried here.

The Kadirya Library

There are a number of other importantbuildings at the end of the summer haram onthe ground floor, the most important of whichis the Kadirya library, the oldest library inIraq, dating back to the beginning of the 6thcentury Hejri (beginning of the 12th century).It was first established within a Hanafite

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Issue 17

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May-June / 2005 For more information, visit our website www.islamictourism.com

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