Kûfâ Is Better

“KUFA IS BETTER”
The Sanctity of Kufa in Early Islam and Shi‘ism in Particular
Introduction
The history of the town of Kufa is a crucial topic in the general study
of the expansion of the Muslim Empire towards the east in the 7th century
as well as in research concerning the creation of the medieval Muslim
town. Nevertheless, for several decades Kufa was only a marginal town
in Iraq, a neglected suburb of Najaf. Since the town was ruined in the
late ‘Abbasid period, much of its history still remains a mystery. The aim
of this article is to try to reconstruct Kufa’s original religious status in
early Islam. Another goal is to prove the existence of the fa∂a’il al-Kufa
literature, a genre which is typical of venerated towns in Islam. The article
presents strong indications that this town was considered, in Iraq in general
and in Shi‘i society in particular, to be the most sacred place in the Muslim
world. The article also deals with Shi‘i apocalyptic beliefs related to Kufa
that would eventually motivate the extreme activity of the Shi‘i Qarma†ians
of BaÌrayn and shock the Muslim world.
While the city of Kufa has received much attention in historical studies1,
its religious status remained a marginal issue, usually mentioned in the
context of holy places in Islam. This is explained by the fact that Kufa
was the political center of Islam only for brief periods and was founded
by the Muslim army in a location which apparently had no religious back-
ground. Hence, Medina, Damascus and later Baghdad were considered to
be the main political capitals of the Muslim caliphate and Mecca, Medina
and Jerusalem were considered to be the holy cities of the empire. How-
ever, this common assumption is wrong, since medieval sources point
clearly to the fact that Kufa did have a religious background; its location
was an important Christian site and also a center of Arab pagan cult
before Islam. Moreover, it had religious importance in the first two
decades of Islam, much beyond what is known today, as is demonstrated
below.
M.J. Kister recently dedicated an important part of his study of holy
places in Islamic tradition to Kufa2, as did O. Livne-Kafri in his article
1
See DJAIT, al-Kufa. See his detailed bibliography, p. 333-338.
2
KISTER, Sanctity Joint and Divided.
Le Muséon 126 (1-2), 203-237. doi: 10.2143/MUS.126.1.2983537 - Tous droits réservés.

© Le Muséon, 2013.
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204 Y. FRIEDMAN
on Jerusalem in Shi‘i tradition3. Nevertheless, both Kister and Livne-

Kafri analyzed the traditions of the holiness of Kufa in the context of
similar fa∂a’il (sing. fa∂l: literature of merits of towns), written in the
honor of other holy cities in Islam, mainly Jerusalem and Mecca. The
thesis behind such a conception was that the holiness of Kufa was only
an echo, a response to Sunni sanctification of Mecca and Jerusalem. In
this article a new concept concerning Kufa is proposed, in which its holi-
ness is viewed as a particular case study and a development of an ancient
cult center for paganism and Christianity into a Muslim Iraqi pilgrimage
site. Najam Haider devoted a recent article to the role of Kufa in the
creation of the Shi‘i identity4. His contribution to our research is mainly
his important thesis that the Shi‘i sectarian consciousness is rooted in the
geographic space of Kufa, rather than in political and theological strug-
gles. Nevertheless, Haider’s article does not provide explanations for the
holiness of Kufa, but rather focuses on the emergence of an Imami com-
munity in the town. Haider prefers to define the fa∂a’il literature concern-
ing Kufa’s mosques as “pilgrimage instructions”, a definition we do not
follow here. One goal of this article is to prove the existence of a genre
of fa∂a’il al-Kufa which has never been dealt with in research, maybe due
to the fact that only a few texts remain, some books and chapters. The
fa∂a’il al-Kufa literature may have been written in the same period as
those of Jerusalem, but they have a particular religious nature, typical
to the region of Kufa. Kufa’s religious status is not only a result of the
political struggle between the three centers of power in the empire, Syria,
Iraq and Arabia. Kufa inherited the sanctity of the region before it was
conquered by the Muslim army, much as Mecca inherited the holiness of
the town from the jahiliyya. We cannot deny the fact that some traditions
related to Kufa are not genuine and may be found also in the fa∂a’il of
Jerusalem, of Mecca and of other important Muslim cities. However, it
is the cousin of the Prophet MuÌammad, ‘Ali ibn Abi ™alib, who gives
Kufa its particular mystical characteristic.
Before we discuss the genre of fa∂a’il al-Kufa we will provide a sum-

mary of the town’s history.
1. Capital of the Muslim Empire
Kufa was founded in 17/638 in the area of the Caliph ‘Umar’s great
conquests. It was mainly a garrison camp (miÒr, pl. amÒar) designated
3
LIVNE-KAFRI, The Early Shi‘a.
4
HAIDER, Prayer, Mosque, and Pilgrimage.

KUFA IS BETTER 205
for the Muslim warriors headed to the east, until its Umayyad governor,
Ziyad ibn Abihi (50/670-53/672), transformed it into a real city and built
its Great Mosque. According to Hichem Djait, the urbanization of Kufa
reached its peak in the 3rd/8th century, when its population was estimated
at around 300-400 thousand people. In his important study of the city,
Djait suggests that Kufa was founded as an Arab alternative to the old
Iraqi center of Îira and also as an alternative center to the Persian capital
of Ctesiphon. Its location was ideal for the Arab fighters as a station for
the future conquest of Persia and its position was based on the strategy
of creating the amÒar at the desert borders5.
Kufa turned from a garrison camp into an important urban center, to
such an extent that both the Shi‘ites and the ‘Abbasids chose it as their
capital. But for political reasons, these two chapters in Islamic history,
with Kufa the capital of the empire, were very short: ‘Ali ibn Abi ™alib,
the fourth caliph and the greatest Imam of the Shi‘ites, transferred the
capital of the caliphate for the first time out of Arabia. He chose Kufa,
where his supporters were, as his new capital, thus making the town an
alternative political center to Medina. Because of his rivalry with Syria’s
governor, Mu‘awiya ibn Abi Sufyan, and his questioned legitimacy among
the Iraqis themselves, ‘Ali’s caliphate was short and he was murdered in
41/661, only five years after moving to Kufa. After his death the Umayyad
dynasty ruled from Syria, transferring the capital to Damascus. Only in
129/749 did Kufa regain its capital status, as a result of the ‘Abbasid revo-
lution and the overthrow of the Umayyad dynasty. Shi‘i rebels did not
command the ‘Abbasid revolution, but were merely exploited as troops by
the ‘Abbasids in order to remove their mutual Umayyad enemy. When
they felt powerful enough to get rid of their Shi‘i allies, the ‘Abbasids built
their own new town, Baghdad, which took the place of Kufa in 145/762
as the new capital of the ‘Abbasid empire. Since that time, Kufa has never
regained its status.
Since the two brief periods when the town was the capital of the Muslim
world, the Sunni authorities seem to have made considerable effort to
reduce the importance of Kufa, probably due to the fact that it represented
Shi‘i authority, and was indeed a center of Shi‘i revolt and the cradle of
several Shi‘i sects. Umayyad governors used to subordinate the town to
Basra, where the governor was seated, to reduce its importance. Neverthe-
less, this did not prevent Kufa’s scholars from playing a major role in the
creation of the Arabic language, the development of Muslim culture, and
the shaping of its theology.
5
DJAIT, al-Kufa, p. 9, 47, 66-67, 84, 96-99, 217-220, 270.

206 Y. FRIEDMAN
2. Traces of an honorable past
The hypothesis that Kufa was much more important in early medieval
Islam than it is today needs clarification. Since the town was first of all
“the capital of ‘Ali” we should obviously search for evidence in Shi‘i
literature. But before turning to that literature, we must note that some
traces of the censored traditions concerning the religious importance of
Kufa can still be found in Sunni sources. The famous historian al-™abari,
in his description of the deluge in his Tarikh, notes that the oven that
boiled in the deluge, mentioned in the Qur’an (Hud [11]: 40), was located
in Kufa and that it was the place from which the water came out6. More
details are given by the Andalusian geographer al-Bakri (d. 487/1094),
who explains that Kufa, also called Kufan, was the house of Noah and
that he built the town’s mosque7.
The choice of Kufa was not based on merely military needs; the area
had religious significance. According to al-™abari, Salman al-Farisi and
Îudhayfa ibn al-Yaman, who were sent before the Muslim army to the
region in the year 17/638, were impressed by three monasteries in the
location and decided to pray there and to thank God for finding the
place8. Kufa was founded next to Îira, the capital of the buffer kingdom
of the Lakhmids, who were Nestorian Christians. Centuries before Islam,
Îira was a seat of Nestorian Catholicons and the location of monasteries
containing their tombs9. In addition, on the territory of the future Sawad
(cultivated region) al-Kufa, Arab pagan tribes organized an alternative
to the Ka‘ba (the Ka‘ba of Sindad near the fortress of Khawarnaq; see
below). It is interesting to note the involvement of two elements, Nesto-
rian Christian and Sassanian Persian, in the building of the Great Mosque
of Kufa, the Jami‘, under Umayyad rule, since this mosque was going to
take the place of previous Christian and jahili pagan sanctuaries. Accord-
ing to al-™abari, the first mosque of Kufa, founded in the time of the
caliph ‘Umar, was built using marble pillars of Sassanian Christian
churches (probably Nestorian). The renovated mosque from the time of
the governor Ziyad was built by architects who were known as “archi-
tects of the jahiliyya” well acquainted with Persian buildings10.
6
AL-™ABARI,
Tarikh, vol. 1, p. 61.
7
AL-BAKRI,
Mu‘jam ma ista‘jam, vol. 3. p. 1142.
8
AL-™ABARI, Tarikh, vol. 2, p. 679. DJAIT, al-Kufa, p. 68. The monastries are Dayr
Îurqa, Dayr Umm ‘Amr and Dayr Silsila; they are not mentioned in other sources.
9
SHAHID, Hira, p. 462-463; MORONEY, Iraq, p. 334-342.
10
AL-™ABARI, Tarikh, vol. 2, p. 681.

KUFA IS BETTER 207
Zakariyya al-Qazwini (d. 682/1283), another Sunni geographer, astron-

omer and physician from Iran, mentions the Imam Ja‘far’s praise of the
great Jami‘ and the Sahla mosque in Kufa, traditions usually cited by Shi‘i
scholars11. However, the most significant trace of the “merits of Kufa”
literature is found in the geographic book of Yaqut al-Îamawi, Mu‘jam
al-buldan, from the 13th century.
In Yaqut’s description of the history of Kufa there is a unique account
of the admiration of the Jami‘, the central mosque of the town. According
to Yaqut, after completing the mosque’s foundation, Ziyad ibn Abihi cir-
cumambulated the mosque (Yaqut used the verb †afa which is particular
to the circumambulation of the Ka‘ba in Mecca) saying: “Which of the
mosques could be compared to i†” (ma ashbahahu bi-al-masajid). His
son, ‘Ubaydallah ibn Ziyad, also governor of Iraq, who renovated the
mosque, declared from its pulpit: “O people of Kufa! I have built for you
a mosque which was never built on the surface of the earth” (qad banaytu
lakum masjidan lam yubna mithlihi ‘ala wajhi al-ar∂)12.
Questions should be raised as to the reason for the timing of the foun-
dation of this monumental mosque and the real goal of such significant
investment by the Umayyads in this hostile environment. The governorship
of Iraq, that of Ziyad and his son ‘Ubaydallah, coincided with turbulent
events taking place in the Islamic world. Ziyad crushed Shi‘i revolts,
mainly that of Îujr ibn ‘Adi, and ‘Ubaydallah ibn Ziyad continued the
struggle against Shi‘i rebels in Kufa and finally initiated the massacre of
al-Îusayn ibn ‘Ali and his followers in Karbala’ (61/680), an event that
shaped Shi‘ism as a faith of martyrdom. Nevertheless, the most danger-
ous threat to the stability of the Umayyad empire in this period was not
Shi‘i uprisings in Iraq, but the revolt of ‘Abdallah ibn Zubayr (64/683-
74/692) in Arabia. Ibn Zubayr declared himself the caliph in Îijaz and his
successful uprising resulted in the disconnection of the center of Muslim
pilgrimage in Mecca from the rest of the Umayyad Empire. This rebel-
lion led to the total disruption of the Ìajj. Did Ibn Ziyad and his father
intend to create a center for pilgrimage in the Great Mosque of Kufa? Did
Ibn Ziyad have the intention to turn the mosque into an alternative for
11
AL-QAZWINI, Athar al-bilad, p. 250-259. Al-Qazwini uses the term fa∂a’il when
praising the town. Since he is a Sunni scholar, his book also includes negative opinions
(i.e. mathalib) referring to the town and its inhabitants. Al-Sahla mosque is also called the
mosque of Banu Åafr and the Suhayl mosque. It is located 2 km northwest of the Great
Mosque of Kufa. Between the two mosques the Kunasa area is found.The Sahla and the
Great Mosque were built in the middle of the 7th century and are among the oldest Muslim
mosques.
12
YAQUT, Mu‘jam al-buldan, vol. 4, p. 559-560.

208 Y. FRIEDMAN
the Ìajj? Or did the two governors only intend to compete with the
churches of Îira? The sources do not reveal the real motives behind their
glorification of the mosque of Kufa. Nevertheless, it was a Shi‘i messi-
anic revolt that eventually turned Kufa into an alternative to Mecca.
3. Kufa: An alternative Ìajj for the Muslims in Iraq?
This exceptional period of revolt and the interruption of the Ìajj raised
theories among researchers as to the possibility that, in this specific
period, the sanctuary of Jerusalem was chosen by the Umayyads as a
temporary replacement for Mecca, or more accurately as an alternative
center of pilgrimage for the Muslims until the revolt ended. The main
source for this theory is the explicit claim of the Shi‘i historian al-
Ya‘qubi (d. 274/897). According to the same theory, it was during this
period that the fa∂a’il Bayt al-Maqdis (merits of Jerusalem) literature
was probably composed to glorify Jerusalem’s sanctity13. As to Kufa,
its Great Mosque was built earlier, around twenty years before al-AqÒa
and, as Shi‘i traditions confirm, it raised negative sentiments rather than
admiration among the Shi‘i community. Several traditions (see below)
predict the destruction of this mosque as a sign of the return of the mahdi
(lit. the guided one, the Messiah). Although the Umayyads tried to glo-
rify this mosque, as shown by Yaqut’s description, we can suppose that
the mosque did not turn into a site of Ìajj, since the Muslim historians
are silent concerning the religious role of Kufa at the time of the revolt of
Ibn Zubayr in Mecca. Such a replacement, if explicitly declared, would
serve Sunni polemic against the Shi‘ites later on. Hence, the claim of
al-Ya‘qubi, that the Umayyads had turned the Dome of the Rock into a
site of Ìajj, remained unchallenged by any Sunni scholar pointing at
Kufa. Nevertheless, it would also be wrong to assume that Kufa did not
play a significant role in this period.
Iraq was also detached from the Îijaz until ‘Abdallah ibn Zubayr was
able to take it over in 68/687. Jerusalem could serve in this situation as
an alternative Ìajj destination for the Syrian Muslims and for the Umayyad
rulers, but certainly could not provide an alternative for the Iraqi Muslims,
because of their profound hostility to Syria and its authority. Thus, it
would be logical to assume that in the period of the revolt in Mecca, Shi‘i
13
GOLDZIHER, Muslim Studies, vol. 2, p. 44-45; ELAD, Medieval Jerusalem, p. 147-
173; See KISTER, A Study of an Early Tradition, p. 173-196; LIVNE-KAFRI, The Early
Shi‘a, see bibliography, p. 112-113 note 1. See also another view concerning this issue:
GOITEIN, Historical Background.

KUFA IS BETTER 209
religious sentiments for Kufa, “the capital of ‘Ali”, were increased to the
point of turning it into a short-term solution for the interrupted Ìajj in
Mecca. As is shown below, Imami sources contain evidence that the
pilgrimage to Kufa was considered a Ìajj. This belief was eminent among
extremist Shi‘ites (Kaysanis, Ghulat and Ba†inis). The available sources
indicate that Kufa would not replace Mecca until the advent of the mahdi.
Thus, the only way Kufa could turn into an alternative to Mecca in the
time of the revolt would be the belief that the days of the appearance of
the mahdi had come.
Indeed, during the revolt of Ibn Zubayr in Iraq, a messianic movement
was already organizing another revolt in Kufa to avenge the blood of
Îusayn, the martyr of Karbala’. There is no doubt that the Shi‘i revolt of
al-Mukhtar ibn ‘Ubayd in Kufa between the years 66/685 and 68/687
intensified the messianic beliefs attributed to Kufa. According to a famous
tradition, al-Mukhtar predicted that the sign of the Messiah’s advent
would be the destruction of the Great Mosque of Kufa, beginning with
the wall facing the house of the famous scholar ‘Abdallah ibn Mas‘ud14.
It was from the Great Mosque of Kufa that al-Mukhtar first announced
his intentions to rebel in the name of MuÌammad ibn al-Îanafiyya,
Îusayn’s half-brother, whom he considered to be the mahdi15. From then
on, Kufa’s religious significance in Shi‘i belief was always associated
with the return of the mahdi. Al-Mukhtar’s tomb in the town is still a site
of pilgrimage16.
Livne-Kafri, dealing with the question of the sanctity of Jerusalem in
Shi‘ism, explains the status of Kufa in the context of the holy cities in
Islam and suggests that the traditions that praise Kufa represent the Iraqi
hostility to the Umayyads17. Although this hypothesis is acceptable, it
should be noted that there are still traces of fa∂a’il al-Kufa in Sunni lit-
erature and also several traditions praising Jerusalem in Shi‘i sources, a
phenomenon that deserves further study. The hostility to the Umayyads
was only one motive for the composition of the fa∂a’il al-Kufa and prob-
ably not the main one. Rather, it is likely that in the period of the revolt
14
AL-MUFID,Kitab al-irshad, vol. 2, p. 375; AL-MAJLISI, BiÌar al-anwar, vol. 3, p. 55.
15
AL-MAJLISI,
BiÌar al-anwar, vol 45, p. 357.
16
IBN BA™™U™A, TuÌfat al-nuÂÂar, vol. 3, p. 55. According to Ibn Ba††u†a (14th century)
the tomb of al-Mukhtar is situated in Kufa but not in the city’s mosque. Nevertheless,
according to the Shi‘i Sayyid BaÌr al-‘Ulum (18th century) al-Mukhtar’s tomb was located
in his period inside the Great Mosque near the tomb of Muslim ibn ‘Aqil, cousin of al-
Îusayn ibn ‘Ali, but BaÌr al-‘Ulum admits that the location of his tomb was unknown in
the past. See BAÎR AL-‘ULUM AL-™ABA™ABA’I, al-Fawa’id al-rijaliyya, p. 96. This location
is accepted nowadays among Shi‘i authorities.
17
LIVNE-KAFRI, The Early Shi‘a, p. 114-116.

210 Y. FRIEDMAN
in Mecca, in order to harm Ibn Zubayr and to prevent the pilgrims from
giving him their bay‘a (oath of allegiance), the Umayyads, led by the
caliph ‘Abd al-Malik, encouraged the composition of the fa∂a’il literature
to praise Jerusalem. At the same time, Îusayn’s martyrdom created in
Kufa a messianic movement led by Mukhtar, which expected the return
of the mahdi in his time. This return was believed to be to Kufa, accord-
ing to ‘Ali’s prediction (see tradition below). Thus, two alternatives to
Mecca were created, in Iraq and in Syria, one by the Umayyads and the
other by the Shi‘ites. It may be assumed that the fa∂a’il literature of
both Jerusalem and Kufa was composed in this period, some of it simi-
lar and some different, since each of them represented a particular local
religious background. The merits of Kufa may have preceded those
of Jerusalem, since the Great Mosque of Kufa was erected before the
mosques of Jerusalem and it was already a sanctuary in the period of
‘Ali. While the Umayyad leaders planned to use Jerusalem as a tempo-
rary alternative to Mecca until they could conquer it from Ibn Zubayr,
the status of Kufa was intended to change forever, since ‘Ali promised
that the mahdi’s return to the town would turn it into the focus of all
subsequent mystical events.
It is important to note at this point another factor emphasizing the
prominence of Kufa in this specific period. In the second half of the
7th century, Kufa was believed to be the site of ‘Ali’s tomb18 and for his
followers it was still the only holy site in Iraq, since the shrines of the
later Shi‘i Imams did not yet exist. The murder of Îusayn ibn ‘Ali three
years before the rebellion of Ibn Zubayr was too fresh to turn Karbala’
into a center of pilgrimage in place of Kufa19. It should also be added
that when speaking in general about Shi‘ism in this early period of Islam,
18
There are several traditions concerning the location of ‘Ali’s tomb. It is believed
that his followers did not reveal the exact place in order to keep his body safe. Some Shi‘i
tradition locates the grave in Kufa and others in Najaf. The latter is the most common
tradition today, and there is also a tradition saying that he was buried in a cave in the
outskirts of Kufa. In these traditions it was his elder son Îasan who buried him. See for
example: AL-KULAYNI, al-Kafi, vol. 1, p. 456, 458. See several versions concerning his
grave in Sunni sources, for example: IBN KATHIR, al-Bidaya wa-al-nihaya, vol. 8, p. 14.
Ibn Taymiyya, the famous Îanbali scholar, noted that ‘Ali is buried in Kufa not in Najaf;
see KISTER, Sanctity Joint and Divided, p. 24.
19
See, for, example a late tradition that maintains that the pilgrimage to the Imam
Îusayn in Karbala’ was a Ìajj: AL-ÎURR AL-‘AMILI, Wasa’il al-Shi‘a, vol. 6, p. 79. The
first time Shi‘i believers from Kufa are described visiting the tomb of Îusayn is the visit
of Sulayman ibn al-∑ard and his fighters in 65/684, on their way to Syria to avenge
Îusayn’s murder. According to Shi‘i sources, they wept near his tomb and “were crowded
like the crowd in the Ka‘ba”, but at this early stage of Shi‘i history this visit was only an
act of mourning and an expression of regret and sorrow before their own inevitable death,
not a ritual of pilgrimage. See AL-MAJLISI, BiÌar al-anwar, vol. 45, p. 359.

KUFA IS BETTER 211
it should not be understood as a split in Islam, but rather a political incli-

nation mingled with religious admiration of what the Shi‘ites defined as
ahl al-bayt (the holy family of the Prophet MuÌammad). Thus, in this
period the mosque of Kufa was a subject of admiration and pilgrimage
not only for the inhabitants of Kufa, but for every ‘Iraqi Muslim who
was sympathetic toward ‘Ali (mutashayyi‘), or participated in the party
of ‘Ali (shi‘at ‘Ali) or merely supported the claim for the caliphate of
‘Ali and later that of his two sons Îasan and Îusayn.
The idea of Kufa as a replacement for Mecca was not a new one. An
attempt by Arab tribes in south Mesopotamia to create an alternative to
the Ka‘ba in the pre-Islamic period is recorded in the descriptions of the
jahiliyya in Muslim sources and was still in the memory of the Iraqi Arabs
at the time of the revolt in Mecca. According to Ibn al-Kalbi (d. 82/822),
in the region of Sindad a member of the Juhayna tribe proposed to build
an alternative Ka‘ba in al-Hawra’ region in order to “attract a lot of
Arabs”, but his tribe refused20. Nevertheless, several sources mention a
sanctuary which was active in the pre-Islamic period in Sindad, called Dhu
al-Ka‘bat, worshiped by the tribes of Bakr and Taghlib, sons of Wa’il, as
well as Iyad. Yaqut locates Sindad in the actual Sawad of Kufa, belong-
ing to the Iyad tribe, describing it as “a river upon which there was a
castle (qaÒr) where the Arabs were performing the Ìajj”21. Other schol-
ars, such as the historian Ibn Kathir and the linguist al-Zubaydi, describe
holy houses (buyut) in this region to which the Arabs performed the
pilgrimage and circumambulated them (both used the terms Ìajj and
tawwaf)22. The religious activities in Îira before Islam seem to have posed
a dangerous threat to the competing center of Mecca. After the Muslim
conquest, the old religious-economic rivalry between the Lakhmids of Îira
and the Quraysh tribe of Mecca was replaced by other struggles within the
Muslim empire between Muslim leaders. For example, following the mur-
der of the third caliph ‘Uthman in 24/644 and the dramatic transfer of the
capital of the Muslim empire from Medina to Kufa, Mu‘awiya is said to
have addressed the following accusation in a letter to his rival ‘Ali ibn
Abi Talib: “You have kept yourself away from the blessing of the two
holy places [al-Ìaramayn, Mecca and Medina] and you have preferred
20
IBN AL-KALBI, Kitab al-aÒnam, p. 45.
21
YAQUT, Mu‘jam al-buldan, vol. 3, p. 302-303. See also: IBN HISHAM, al-Sira al-
Nabawiyya, vol. 1, p. 213. In a poem, A‘sha ibn Qays praises this sanctuary, mentioning
the water of the Euphrates flowing to it (see the religious significance of this water
below).
22
IBN AL-KALBI, Kitab al-aÒnam, p. 45; IBN KATHIR, al-Bidaya wa-al-nihaya, vol. 2,
p. 289-290.

212 Y. FRIEDMAN
Kufa to Medina, and the nearness of Khawarnaq and Îira to proximity

to the [tomb of MuÌammad] seal of prophecy”23. Ironically, Mu‘awiya,
who became caliph after the murder of ‘Ali, transferred the capital to
Damascus, not back to Mecca.
In the light of the holiness of the territory we should understand the
tradition that relates the story of ‘Ali’s purchase of the land of Kufa, Najaf
and al-Îira, including the well-regarded Khawarnaq fortress24 of Sindad.
According to a Shi‘i tradition, when he was asked why he had paid to the
Persian dehqans (land owners) a sum of 40,000 dirhams for this desert
territory, he answered that the Prophet MuÌammad told him that this was
the land where the Messiah will gather 70,000 believers at the end of time
and send them from there directly to heaven, so he wanted it to be his
property25.
Following the Muslim conquests and ‘Ali’s transfer of the capital to
Kufa, the above mentioned genre of fa∂a’il al-Kufa (most of it lost, see
the list in appendix) was being composed in Iraq. In this genre Kufa’s
holiness was promoted to the level of Mecca and even further. The fol-
lowing summarized traditions demonstrate this genre26.
4. The fa∂a’il al-Kufa traditions
4.1. A sacred city

a. The Prophet MuÌammad said: Kufa is the skull of the Arabs, the
lance of the blessed and exalted God and the treasure of belief27.
b. The mosque of Kufa is the oldest mosque in the world after the
Ka‘ba. It existed even before the creation of humanity, when angels were
praying there. After the creation of humanity, it was a place of prayer for
all the prophets and the messengers of God from Adam to MuÌammad28.
c. Adam is the first founder of the mosque of Kufa. Later it was
renovated by Noah29. Nevertheless, its original position was altered by
23
IBN ABI AL-ÎADID, SharÌ nahj al-balagha, vol. 17, p. 252.
24
The Khawarnaq fortress had special significance because it was founded by the
Lakhmid al-Nu‘man, son of the well-known Imru’ al-Qays. According to several sources,
it was lived in by ‘Ali during his caliphate; see, for example: AL-SUHAYLI, al-Raw∂ al-
unuf, Cairo, 1971, p. 156.
25
AL-™USI, Tahdhib al-aÌkam, vol. 3, p. 161.
26
For an explicit indication of the existence of the genre of “the virtues of Kufa’s
mosque”, see YAQUT, Mu‘jam al-buldan, vol. 4, p. 559. References to Sunni sources in
the following traditions are also offered when available.
27
AL-MAJLISI, BiÌar al-anwar, vol. 97, p. 396.
28
AL-BURAQI, Tarikh al-Kufa, p. 2.
29
Ibidem, p. 11-12.

KUFA IS BETTER 213
Khusraw [the Persian king], Nu‘man [ibn Mundhir, king of the Lakhmids]
and eventually by Ziyad [the Umayyad governor]30. This anachronistic
tradition makes the king of the Lakhmids, who lived a century before
Islam, envy the mosque of Kufa, since it competes with the Christian
sanctuary of Îira31.
d. Noah built his boat in the mosque of Kufa before the deluge. Noah
took the grave of Adam in his boat from Mecca to Kufa, where the water
of the deluge went out and returned32.
e. The sixth Imam, Ja‘far al-∑adiq (d. 148/765), said: In Kufa are
situated the tombs of Noah, Abraham, three hundred and seventy other
prophets, six hundred legatees [awÒiya’, sing. wasi] and ‘Ali the master
of the legatees 33.
f. The Sahla mosque in Kufa (other traditions concern the Great
Mosque of Kufa) was the house of Idris (Enoch), the place where Abra-
ham stayed before his attack against the Amalekites and from which
David launched his attack against Goliath34. These traditions leave no
doubt as to their reference to the city’s role as a base of attack against the
enemies of the Shi‘ites (for example, ‘Ali against Mu‘awiyya, Mukhtar
against Ibn Ziyad).
g. According to Shi‘i interpretation, the four Qur’anic symbols, “the
fig, the olive, Mount Sinai and the city of security” (Qur’an, al-Tin 95:1),
refer to the four most sacred cities in Islam: Medina, Jerusalem, Kufa
and Mecca35. It should be noted that in this tradition Kufa is identified
30
AL-KULAYNI, al-Kafi, vol. 8, p. 279. According to al-Majlisi, the foundations of the
original mosque were altered from their original position and the new mosque, built by
the “heretical caliphs” (i.e. the Umayyads) deviated from the qibla (the direction of the
prayer to Mecca) by forty degrees to the right; see AL-MAJLISI, BiÌar al-anwar, vol. 97,
p. 433-434. According to one tradition, ‘Ali ibn Mahziyar dreamt that the mahdi was
revealed to him and told him that at the end of time he intended to destroy the mosque of
Kufa and to rebuild it as it was originally; see ibidem, vol. 54, p. 104.
31
The most famous tradition of the attempt of Christian leaders to compete with
Mecca as a pilgrimage center for the Arabs in the Jahiliyya, is that of Abraha who built a
great church in San‘a’, Yemen, for this purpose. See AL-™ABARI, Tarikh, vol. 1, p. 263-
266.
32
AL-BURAQI, Tarikh al-Kufa, p. 2; AL-KULAYNI, al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 23.
33
AL-BURAQI, Tarikh al-Kufa, p. 5; AL-ÎURR AL-‘AMILI, Wasa’il al-Shi‘a, vol. 14,
p. 387.
34
AL-KULAYNI, al-Kafi, vol. 3, p. 494. See also this tradition mentioned in Sunni
sources by the Iranian geographer al-Qazwini: AL-QAZWINI, Athar al-bilad, p. 251. The
Sahla mosque is held in such high esteem that to pray there is considered to be like
praying in the tent of the Prophet MuÌammad; see AL-MAJLISI, BiÌar al-anwar, vol. 97,
p. 435.
35
AL-MAJLISI, BiÌar al-anwar, vol. 96, p. 96, 383; vol. 97, p. 392. As to these four
sacred mosques (al-masjid al-Ìaram, masjid al-Madina, al-masjid al-aqÒa and masjid
al-Kufa), see also: ibidem, vol. 97, p. 396.

214 Y. FRIEDMAN
with Mount Sinai, where, according to Judaism, the Torah was revealed
(Exodus 18-40). Also the verse, “We have made the son of Mary [Jesus]
and his mother a model [for the believers] and We gave them both refuge
on high ground, a place of rest, security and flowing streams” (Qur’an,
al-Mu’minun 23:50) is explained as a description of Kufa, its mosque
and the Euphrates river36.
h. Ja‘far al-∑adiq said concerning the mosque of Kufa: if people knew
its merit, they would come to it, even crawling on snow; it contains in its
south [the door of Kinda] the sanctuaries of Abraham and that of the
angel Gabriel; there is no prophet or pious believer who did not pray in
this place. Even the Prophet MuÌammad during his Night Journey asked
the angel Gabriel to stop and to pray there [see below]; to pray there is
an obligation [fari∂a] which is equal to a thousand prayers in another
mosque and an optional prayer there is worth five hundred prayers else-
where37.
i. A tradition attributed to Ja‘far explicitly defines Kufa as a holy city:
Mecca is the Ìaram [holy place] of God, Medina is the Ìaram of the
Prophet MuÌammad and Kufa is the Ìaram of ‘Ali38.
j. Salman al-Farisi, the companion of the Prophet MuÌammad and
the first Persian converted to Islam, said that Kufa is the qubbat al-
Islam [dome of Islam] and at the end of time everybody will long
for it39.
k. The water of the Euphrates flowing to Kufa is sacred, since it flows
from heaven40. For this reason the Imam Ja‘far said that whoever drinks
from this water would be cured from sickness41.
36
AL-ÎURR AL-‘AMILI, Wasa‘il al-Shi‘a, vol. 14, p. 361; on p. 405 the “high ground”
is interpreted as Najaf al-Kufa and in AL-MAJLISI, BiÌar al-anwar, vol. 94, p. 232 as Îirat
al-Kufa. The latter source says that some interpret it as Ramla in Filas†in (Palestine, south
Syria), Damascus, Cairo or Jerusalem.
37
AL-BURAQI, Tarikh al-Kufa, p. 3. Concerning the Prophet MuÌammad’s stop in Kufa
to pray in the middle of the night journey, see also: AL-MAJLISI, BiÌar al-anwar, vol. 97,
p. 405. According to other traditions, the prayer in Kufa is worth a thousand prayers
elsewhere; see, for example: ibidem, p. 397. Haider noted that several traditions are asso-
ciated with both the mosque of Kufa and al-Sahla mosque; see HAIDER, Prayer, Mosque,
and Pilgrimages, p. 165, note 61.
38
AL-BURAQI, Tarikh al-Kufa, p. 8; AL-MAJLISI, BiÌar al-anwar, vol. 96, p. 242.
39
AL-BURAQI, Tarikh al-Kufa, p. 101, 110.
40
AL-KULAYNI, al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 388; AL-ÎURR AL-‘AMILI, Wasa’il al-Shi‘a, vol. 13,
p. 361. See in a Sunni source: AL-QAZWINI, Athar al-Bilad, p. 421.
41
AL-™USI, Tahdhib al-aÌkam, vol. 6, p. 39. Sindawi mentions a Shi‘i tradition which
says that in the time of Noah, because of the sins of the inhabitants of Mecca, the water
of the Zamzam turned salty, and the pure water was transferred into the Euphrates. See
SINDAWI, Between the Two Gharis of Kufa, p. 138-139.

KUFA IS BETTER 215
4.2. Equal to Jerusalem

One of the most striking comparisons to Jerusalem’s holy status in
Islam is the existence of traditions associating the miracle of the isra’
(the Prophet MuÌammad’s Night Journey) with the Great Mosque of
Kufa and the mi‘raj (his ascent to the seven heavens) with the smaller
mosque of al-Sahla. These two mystical events are associated in Sunni
Islam merely with the mosque of al-AqÒa and the Dome of the Rock in
Jerusalem42.
4.3. Superior to Jerusalem

a. In the Shi‘i version of the famous tradition concerning the three
most holy mosques, some traditions replace Jerusalem with Kufa:
The Imam ‘Ali ibn Abi ™alib said: Do not tie your saddles but to three
mosques: the holy mosque (in Mecca), the mosque of the prophet (in
Medina) and the mosque of Kufa [instead of the mosque of al-AqÒa,
Jerusalem, which is the common Sunni version]43.
b. ‘Ali ibn Abi ™alib once explained to an Iraqi believer who intended
to go to Jerusalem that it would be better to pray in Kufa, since it is one
of the four sacred mosques (together with those of Mecca, Medina and
Jerusalem). Abraham, a thousand prophets and a thousand messengers of
God prayed there; it is from its location that the oven (which is said to
be in the ground) started boiling at the beginning of the deluge [referring
to Qur’an, Hud 11:40 and al-Mu’minun 23:27]; it contains the yaq†in
[gourd] of Jonah, the ring of King Solomon and the rod of Moses; one
of the gardens of Eden was located in its center and hence it contains
purifying waters; and at the end of time all the people will be gathered
to it. Finally ‘Ali concludes: “If people had known its merit they would
have come to it44”.
c. A man asked Ja‘far al-∑adiq about the mosques which have a
blessing; he answered that they are the holy mosque and the mosque
42
AL-MAJLISI,
BiÌar al-anwar, vol. 97, p. 405, 437.
43
AL-BURAQI,
Tarikh al-Kufa, p. 25, 27.
44
AL-BURAQI, Tarikh al-Kufa, p. 2-3; KULAYNI, al-Kafi, vol. 3, p. 494; AL-MAJLISI,
BiÌar al-anwar, vol. 97, p. 389. This tradition is cited also by the Iranian Sunni al-Qazwini;
see AL-QAZWINI, Athar al-bilad, p. 250. According to Shi‘i tradition, the rod of Moses was
transmitted from Adam to Jethro, from him to Moses, then to the Imams and eventually
to the mahdi and it remains green and fresh as it was in the day it was taken from heaven.
The rod does whatever it is ordered to do; see AL-MAJLISI, BiÌar al-anwar, vol. 13, p. 45.
According to another Shi‘i tradition, on the day of judgment, the mahdi will use the rod
of Moses to reveal the believers and the ring of Solomon to reveal the sinners; see ibidem,
vol. 6, p. 301-303.

216 Y. FRIEDMAN
of the messenger of God. Then the man asked his view concerning
the mosque of al-AqÒa [in Jerusalem], and the Imam replied that it is in
heaven [fi al-sama’], thus giving an explanation of the term AqÒa [most
remote], since the Night Journey was to the “most remote mosque”,
not to the earthly Jerusalem. When the man told him that people were
associating this mosque with Jerusalem, he answered: “Kufa is better
than it45”.
4.4. Equal to Mecca

a. In the following tradition, transmitted by the Imam Ja‘far al-∑adiq,
the pilgrimage to the mosque of Kufa is explicitly considered as a Ìajj,
i.e. equivalent to the pilgrimage to Mecca in the holy months:
A man came with his horse to the mosque of Kufa to ask the blessing
of ‘Ali before going to the mosque of al-AqÒa and ‘Ali told him to sell
his saddles and to eat his food/provisions and to pray in the mosque of
Kufa because a prayer in it is a blessed Ìajj and an optional prayer in it
is a blessed ‘umra [pilgrimage in other than the holy months]; its water
is purifying; the boat of Noah sailed from it; and there is no prayer
which is not answered in it46.
b. God ordered Adam to use stones from the location of Kufa to build
the pillars of the Ka‘ba47.
c. A believer who performs his pilgrimage to Kufa should say when
passing near ‘Ali’s tomb: sa‘y mashkur [be it a meritorious endeavor!],
a blessing which is usually said concerning the walking between the hills
of ∑afa and Marwa during the pilgrimage to Mecca to commemorate
Hagar’s search for water 48.
d. There is a tradition which is similar to the one that considers Kufa
the Ìaram of ‘Ali, and also regards it as the Ìaram of God and the
Prophet MuÌammad, thus elevating the city to the sanctity of Mecca and
Medina49.
45
In Arabic: masjid al-Kufa af∂al minhu; see AL-BURAQI, Tarikh al-Kufa, p. 5; AL-
MAJLISI, BiÌar al-anwar, vol. 97, p. 405.
46
AL-BURAQI, Tarikh al-Kufa, p. 4; AL-MAJLISI, BiÌar al-anwar, vol. 97, p. 400. The
Arabic text leaves no place for doubts: al-salat al-maktuba fihi Ìijja [a synonym for Ìajj]
mabrura wa-al-nafila ‘umra mabrura. The same phrase is also attributed in the Shi‘i lit-
erature to Ja‘far’s father, the Imam MuÌammad al-Baqir, see AL-BURAQI, Tarikh al-Kufa,
p. 29; and even to the Prophet MuÌammad himself, see ibidem, p. 27; AL-HURR AL-
‘AMILI, Wasa‘il al-Shi‘a, vol. 5, p. 256-258.
47
48
Ibidem, vol. 97, p. 236.
49

KUFA IS BETTER 217
4.5. Superior to Mecca

a. A man told Ja‘far al-∑adiq that he had sold his property in order to
emigrate to Mecca. Ja‘far warned him that the inhabitants of Mecca were
heretics. Then the man asked about Medina and the Imam said that its
people were even worse, and advised the man to stay in Kufa because it
is the source of blessing and no one who dwells near it could be harmed50.
It could be claimed that the last tradition refers only to the inhabitants,
not to the mosques. However, the following traditions leave no doubt as
to the superiority of the mosque of Kufa:
b. At the end of time the mahdi will come to Kufa and build his
mosque there51.
c. At the end of time the inhabitants of Kufa will be the happiest
people52.
d. An apocalyptic tradition composed by ‘Abbasid revolutionaries
against the Umayyads predicts an invasion of the evil Sufyani (i.e. leader
of the Umayyad dynasty) to Kufa and his defeat by an army of the Banu
Hashim carrying black banners led by the mahdi53.
The following tradition is the most important apocalyptic prophecy
concerning Kufa:
e. In a speech in the mosque of Kufa, ‘Ali ibn Abi ™alib promised that
at the end of time the Black Stone of the Ka‘ba will be placed at the
Great Mosque of Kufa and every prayer on earth will be directed to it.
He himself promised to arrive in the town that day in white clothing
[similar to what is worn for the Ìajj] in order to provide his shafa‘a
(intercession) to those who prayed there. Then the mahdi would come to
the mosque and gather the believers there. ‘Ali concluded his speech by
asking the believers not to leave the mosque in favor of other places,
since prayer in it is the most answered and he said what Ja‘far al-∑adiq
later repeated, that “if people knew its merit they would come to it from
all the countries on earth, even crawling on snow”54.
50
AL-BURAQI, Tarikh al-Kufa, p. 5; AL-MAJLISI, BiÌar al-anwar, vol. 96, p. 83, 377.
51
52
53
This tradition appears in several Sunni sources, for example: AL-SUYU™I, al-Îawi
li-al-fatawa, vol. 2, p. 67.
54
The most important line in ‘Ali’s speech is: la tadhhabu al-ayyam wa-al-layali
Ìatta yunÒabu al-Ìajar al-aswad fihi (not many days and nights will pass until the Black
Stone will be placed in it); see AL-BURAQI, Tarikh al-Kufa, p. 6, 28-29, 83; AL-ÎURR AL-
‘AMILI, Wasa’il al-Shi‘a, vol. 5, p. 658. As to the tradition that Kufa will be the place of
the Ìashr (the gathering at the end of time), see also: AL-BURAQI, Tarikh al-Kufa, p. 83.
It is interesting to compare this with an Umayyad tradition concerning the carrying of the

218 Y. FRIEDMAN
5. The alternative object of sanctity: the green stone of Kufa
The traditions we have mentioned55 place Kufa above every sacred

site in the Muslim world in the religious sense: it is the site of Mount
Sinai, the place where the Messiah will return and where all humanity
will be summoned on the Day of Judgment. Its holiness was confirmed
by the visit and prayer of every prophet from Adam to MuÌammad, as
well as the burial of hundreds of them in the town. However, in order to
provide a more solid indication that the town was indeed promoted to the
level of Mecca, we also need proof that another object of sanctity was
situated in Kufa, equivalent to the Black Stone in the Ka‘ba of Mecca
and the foundation stone in Jerusalem covered by the Dome of the Rock.
Indeed, a careful reading of a chapter in medieval Shi‘i literature reveals
that such an object did exist. In Masjid al-Sahla in Kufa there was a
green stone “which had the form of all the prophets’ faces” (fiha Òurat
wujuh al-nabiyyin)56, or according to another version “had the figure of
every prophet” (fiha Òurat kull nabi)57. This mystical sight is explained
by a tradition telling that under this stone was found the clay from which
Ka‘ba with the Black Stone to Jerusalem in the time of the mahdi “like the bringing of a
bride in the wedding [to her husband]”; see for example: AL-‘UMARI, Masalik al-abÒar,
vol. 1, p. 207. LIVNE-KAFRI, Burial in the Holy Land, p. 421. These two traditions, con-
cerning the carrying of the Black Stone to Jerusalem and to Kufa, are not equivalent at
all. They use different terminology in Arabic, and in the case of Kufa the Stone is carried
without the Ka‘ba, which will be replaced by the mosque of ‘Ali at the end of time.
55
See additional traditions concerning Kufa, in KISTER, Sanctity Joint and Divided,
p. 31-36.
56
57
Ibidem, p. 435-436. Moshe Gil proposed to translate it as: “there were pictures of
the prophets”, see GIL, The Creed of Abu ‘Amir, p. 37-38. Contrary to our hypothesis, Gil
does not consider the green stone as more than a part of the cult of Idris/Enoch. Gil’s
translation contradicts the aniconism in Islam, the proscription of the creation of images
and in holy sites in particular. Moreover, Gil’s translation also does not fit the proportions
of the small mosque of al-Sahla, since Muslim tradition speaks of thousands of prophets,
120,000 according to one tradition (the Qur’an mentions 25 prophets and another 10 are
mentioned in the QiÒaÒ al-Anbiya’ literature). See FRIEDMAN, The Nusayri-‘Alawis, p. 93.
The expression “picture of every prophet [from Adam to Jesus]” appears in medieval
geographic literature only once, in the description of the great Church of Rome, where the
huge space does indeed allow for the presence of such a number of pictures. In this case
Gil’s translation would fit. See YAQUT, Mu‘jam al-buldan, vol. 2, p. 367. Nor do we accept
the translation of Haider: “the marks of every prophet” which does not fit the terms in
Arabic. See HAIDER, Prayer, Mosque, and Pilgrimages, p. 165. In the case of the Sahla
mosque, the green stone should be understood as a mystical phenomenon, a belief that the
green stone enables the sight of every prophet. According to Ibn Faqih al-Hamadhani, a
10th century geographer, the green stone was a yaqut (precious stone), a term also used to
describe the Black Stone, yaqut min yawaqit al-janna (stone from the precious stones of
heaven); see AL-HAMADHANI, Kitab al-buldan, p. 210.

KUFA IS BETTER 219
God created all the prophets in history58. According to another tradition,

it is from this stone that the mi‘raj (the Prophet MuÌammad’s ascent to
the heavens) took place and humanity will be gathered to it on the Day
of Judgment59.
Revealing the secret of this mysterious green stone would be a diffi-
cult task, since its traces are lost today. One rare Shi‘i tradition reveals
that the stone was made of emerald (zabarjada) and contained not only
the forms of all the prophets, but also those of every legatee (fiha Òurat
kull nabi wa-kull waÒi)60. Since the two mosques, the Jami‘ and Sahla,
are associated with the houses of Noah and that of his great-grandfather
Enoch, we should seek for a stone linked with the ark of Noah. According
to Jewish traditions, the ark contained a stone named tsohar, a similar
word to the Arab Òakhra (stone/rock) used in the context of the green
stone of Sahla. According to Jewish tradition, the tsohar’s light allowed
Noah to distinguish inside the ark between day and night61. Further
study should be undertaken to investigate the Sahla green stone and its
relations with Noah and his family in eastern cultures and religions.
Shi‘i tradition preserves another trace of Jewish mysticism concerning
Noah’s family. During the Qarma†ian pillage of Kufa, in order to defend
their homes, several Shi‘ites kept lists of saints from the Jewish Bible,
including Enoch, written on parchment made from deer’s skin, a defense
secret revealed by a Jew converted to Islam in the time of MuÌammad
and transmitted to ‘Ali62.
However, besides the possible Jewish influence, the admiration of
Noah in Kufa and the traditions linking the town with the deluge can be
explained by the well-known belief in Shi‘ism that the Imams are the
safinat al-najat, i.e. “the boat of salvation”. According to a famous Shi‘i
tradition, the Prophet MuÌammad declared that ‘Ali ibn Abi ™alib and his
descendants serve as the boat of salvation, and those who follow them
58
AL-MAJLISI, BiÌar al-anwar, vol. 97, p. 436. It could have been claimed that this
tradition placed the green stone of Kufa as the opposite of the Quranic sijjin (Qur’an,
al-Mu†affifin 83:8), since it is explained by some commentaries as a green stone placed
in the bottom of the seventh earth, covering hell in Sunni traditions. Nevertheless, this
is a Sunni description of the sijjin that we could not find in Shi‘i sources. On the con-
trary, Shi‘i traditions do not describe this stone covering hell as a green one and some
place it under Jerusalem, not Kufa; see for example: AL-MAJLISI, Bihar al-anwar, vol. 7,
p. 116.
59
60
Ibidem.
61
See for example in Genesis Rabbah, 31:11. I would like to thank Professor Marc
Bregman, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, for contributing this important
note.
62
AL-ÎILLI, Kitab al-aman, p. 86.

220 Y. FRIEDMAN
after the Prophet’s death will be saved from hell and led to paradise63.
Thus, we should not be surprised to find a tradition relating that when
Îasan buried his father ‘Ali in the location that he had instructed him to,
he found on a plane tree an inscription saying: “Preserved from Noah to
‘Ali ibn Abi ™alib” (iddakhara NuÌ li-‘Ali ibn Abi ™alib)64.
In BiÌar al-anwar, al-Majlisi concludes his chapter on the “Merits
of Kufa” with the statement that unfortunately the Masjid al-Sahla/
Suhayl, like most of the holy sites of the town, was destroyed in his
period (17th century)65. Djait, in his book about Kufa, explains that the
town contained hundreds of mosques in the Middle Ages, more than any
city in the medieval Muslim empire. All these mosques, together with the
rest of the town, were destroyed by Bedouin invasions, such as that of the
Qarma†ians, which is discussed later. Thus, Djait justly maintains that
“the town which was established by Arabs was destroyed by Arabs”66.
6. Burial at Kufa
The proximity to ‘Ali’s grave in Kufa (or Najaf) and the prophecies of
the advent of the mahdi in that city turned it into an attractive place for
burial. According to Shi‘i tradition, ‘Ali severely punished people who
moved the body of a Muslim who had died in a rural region in order
to bury him in Kufa. He explained that this custom was similar to the
Jewish tradition of carrying people who died to burial in Jerusalem.
Nevertheless, this ritual became widespread in Shi‘ism67.
‘Ali’s prohibition may indicate that already in his caliphate (7th century)
people considered Kufa a holy city. However, it seems more plausible
that this tradition reflects an attempt to limit the custom of burial near
63
See for example: AL-MAJLISI, BiÌar al-anwar, vol. 23, p. 144; vol. 254, p. 254.
64
Ibidem, vol. 42, p. 224. Sindawi notes that according to Shi‘i traditions, the grave
in Ghari contains the remains of 370 prophets, including Noah. According to Sunni
sources, Noah’s grave is in Mecca; see SINDAWI, Between the Two Gharis of Kufa, p. 132-
135.
65
66
H. DJAIT, al-Kufa, p. 297-299, 330. Djait provides a list of mosques in Kufa (p. 298-
299), in which the Masjid al-Sahla is identified with the mosque of the tribe of ‘Abd
al-Qays.
67
AL-MAJLISI, BiÌar al-anwar, vol. 79, p. 66. The well-known Shi‘i scholar Ibn
Tawus (d. 664/1266) from Îilla asked to be buried after his death in Najaf, where his
parents were also buried; see KOHLBERG, A Medieval Muslim, p. 4, 14 note 91. Shi‘i
Muslims still ask to be buried in Najaf today; see for example: VERTESALJI, Supralocal
Cemeteries, p. 195. The jurist al-Khu’i (d. 1992) stated that those buried in Najaf will
not suffer in the grave due to their proximity to the Imam; see TAKIM, The Heirs of the
Prophet, p. 67-68.

KUFA IS BETTER 221
the sanctuary in later periods, since it was a result of Jewish influence.

Indeed, the Jewish custom of preferring burial in Jerusalem influenced
many Muslims who asked to be buried there68. The custom raised objec-
tions among scholars for the same reason that provoked ‘Ali’s resent-
ment concerning the burial in Kufa69. The main reason for the custom in
Judaism and in Islam is people’s belief that burial in the most sacred
place will assure the best conditions at the time of the resurrection and
prevent the suffering of the body on its way to the place of congregation
with the Messiah.
A different tradition, encouraging the custom of burial in Kufa, is also
mentioned in Shi‘i sources, concerning a Shi‘i believer who came from
Yemen to Kufa in order to bury his father there. ‘Ali asked him why he
had traveled such a long way and the man answered that in this town the
believers will receive intercession (shafa‘a) and ‘Ali explained to him
that it would come from him personally70.
7. Kufa = ‘Ali = the qibla
Another belief which places Kufa at the center of the world because
the grave of ‘Ali is there was created among mystical Shi‘i circles. The
sanctity of Kufa was an important tenet among the Ghulat (extremist
admirers of ‘Ali), who developed the idea that ‘Ali was an exalted being.
According to their doctrine, certain divine powers were delegated to him
by God (by tafwi∂, delegation); in the opinion of some Ghulat groups he
was even God’s personification on earth. According to this mystical
belief, ‘Ali and his descendants, the Imams of the Shi‘a, were considered
the spiritual qibla, the object of sanctity that every believer should turn
to, body and soul.
An allegorical interpretation of the term qibla (direction of prayer) is
also known in some ∑ufi orders who replace the Ka‘ba in Mecca with a
human qibla. The ∑ufi qibla is a spiritual leader from whom the believers
ask for guidance71. In Shi‘ism the spiritual leader is the Imam. For exam-
ple, the eighth Imam, ‘Ali al-Ri∂a (d. 203/818), was called “the seventh
qibla”, a nickname used by the Persian theologian NaÒir al-Din al-™usi
68
LIVNE-KAFRI, Burial in the Holy Land, p. 417-425.
69
Ibidem, p. 420.
70
71
See, for example, on the terminology of the Naqshbandiyya order, BUEHLER, Sufi
Heirs, p. 155. See also the biography of the eleventh-century Persian Shaykh Abu ‘l-‘Abbas
QaÒÒab, in RAVAN FARHADI, ‘Abdullah AnÒari of Herat, p. 52.

222 Y. FRIEDMAN
(d. 672/1274) and later on in the writings of the nineteenth-century Dha-

habiyya Shi‘i-∑ufi order72. In the writings of the NuÒayri sect in Syria,
which is considered to be the only remainder of the Ghulat of Iraq73, the
sacred object of prayer has an allegorical meaning. The Ka‘ba is not an
object of sanctity, but a symbol of a higher divine being, which is the
venerated divinity personified by ‘Ali74. Thus, the term qibla turns from
a practical obligation into a spiritual concept. The believer does not turn
in his prayer toward the object of sanctity, but addresses his prayer toward
what it represents.
Since ‘Ali represented the divinity he became in Ghulat circles the
one and only qibla, the object of sanctity and the direction of prayer.
This belief created the following equation: ‘Ali is buried in Kufa and
he is the qibla, thus Kufa is the qibla. In contrast, the Black Stone of
the Ka‘ba was viewed in the same ways an idol is admired, and in some
Ghulat sects the Ìajj was even prohibited75. The same idea is found in
Isma‘ili mysticism, since the stone of the Ka‘ba is believed to be a pagan
trace from the jahiliyya and a stone should not be worshiped. It is the
Imam al-zaman (the Imam of time, the expected mahdi) who is the right
qibla76.
To back the hypothesis of the belief that the Imam is the qibla, we
could mention the Shi‘i custom of declaring “labbayka” (here I am at
your service) when approaching the Imams. This custom, typical of the
Ghulat, became widespread among Shi‘i believers who visited the Imams.
Amir-Moezzi has noted that this declaration is an expression preserved
originally to salute God only and was introduced to Shi‘ism by the con-
verted Jew ‘Abdallah ibn Saba’77. The declaration is no other than the
talbiya, the formula invoked by every Muslim who intends to perform the
pilgrimage to Mecca.
Another important mystical belief worthy of mention here, which pro-
motes Kufa to the highest religious status, is linked with reports of tayy
al-ar∂ (the traversing of long distances without moving from one place
72
AMIR-MOEZZI, La religion discrète, p. 261-262, 292.
73
Concerning the NuÒayri (today called Alawi) sect, which began in Iraq and migrated
to Syria, see FRIEDMAN, The Nusayri-‘Alawi.
74
See in NuÒayri writings, for example: AL-JILLI, Kitab ba†in al-Òalat.
75
In NuÒayri literature the Ìajj is condemned: in al-Adhani’s Kitab al-majmu‘, in
the fourth chapter, called al-Bayt al-ma‘mur (the house which is the object of pilgrimage)
he explains that the Imam Ja‘far equated the Ìajj with the worship of a stone and that Ibn
NuÒayr, eponym of the sect, denounced it; see AL-ADHANI, Kitab al-bakura al-Sulaymaniyya,
p. 30-32.
76
VIRANI, The Isma‘ilis, p. 150-153.
77
AMIR-MOEZZI (ed.), Le voyage initiatique, p. 53.

KUFA IS BETTER 223
to another) between the Ka‘ba, the mosque of the Prophet MuÌammad in

Medina and the Great Mosque of Kufa, thus creating a mystical path
between the holiest sites78.
8. Reuse of the fa∂a’il al-Kufa in the early ‘Abbasid period
The interesting phenomenon of the reuse of traditions of fa∂a’il lit-

erature was demonstrated in the case of Jerusalem. Amikam Elad and
Emanuel Sivan, following Ignaz Goldziher, maintained that the fada’il
Bayt al-Maqdis were encouraged and circulated during the Umayyad
period and reused in a later period, for example during the period of
the Crusades, as propaganda for jihad and the Muslim conquest of
Jerusalem79. This article proposes the hypothesis that toward the latter
half of the 8th century a reuse of the fa∂a’il al-Kufa was crucial for the
propaganda against the Umayyads, in order to recruit the Shi‘ites to
the ‘Abbasid revolution. These traditions mixed Shi‘i admiration for
Kufa and messianic ‘Abbasid prophecies concerning an army of black
banners advancing to the town, as mentioned earlier. At the beginning
of the ‘Abbasid period the first caliph seems to have had serious inten-
tions of fulfilling the promises to the Shi‘i allies to return the capital
to Kufa.
Shi‘i sources preserve traditions mentioning the name of the first
‘Abbasid caliph, Abu al-‘Abbas al-SaffaÌ, in the context of a revival of
the glorification of Kufa. Three traditions emphasize this phenomenon:
a. In his first khu†ba in the mosque of Kufa, al-SaffaÌ praised ‘Ali,
noting that he was the most suitable person to succeed to the posi-
tion of the Prophet MuÌammad 80.
b. In the time of al-SaffaÌ, the Imam Ja‘far revealed the location of the
grave of ‘Ali, which had been concealed for almost a century81.
78
See, for example: AL-KULAYNI, al-Kafi, vol. 1, p. 493. Concerning tayy al-ar∂
(lit. folding up of earth), a virtue attributed to the Imams in Shi‘ism, see AMIR-MOEZZI,
La religion discrète, p. 268-269.
79
See SIVAN, The Fa∂a’il al-Quds, p. 263-271.
80
MIRZA ÎUSAYN NURI, Mustadrak al-wasa’il, vol. 3, p. 399.
81
AL-MAJLISI, Bihar al-anwar, vol. 42, p. 338. The usual explanation is that ‘Ali’s
children were afraid that his body would be harmed by the Umayyads or the Khawarij;
see, for example: ibidem, vol. 97, p. 235-236. See Sindawi’s discussion of the Ghari, the
grave of ‘Ali and its Jahili background, in SINDAWI, Between the Two Gharis of Kufa,
p. 111-151. According to Sindawi, the Ghari was built by the Lakhmid al-Mundhir at the
end of the 6th century as a grave. According to Muslim sources, the site was used for a
pagan cult of human sacrifice. See also AL-HAMADHANI, Kitab al-buldan, p. 214-217.

224 Y. FRIEDMAN
c. In the time of al- SaffaÌ, Ja‘far explained the significance of every

mosque in Kufa and its religious importance, based on ‘Ali’s sayings
in the preceding century82.
Although SaffaÌ was proclaimed caliph in the Great Mosque of Kufa

and encouraged its promotion by the Shi‘ites, the later period of his
rule marked the beginning of a gradual abandonment of the idea of
Kufa as the capital of the empire. Al-Saffah’s transference of his resi-
dence to al-Anbar indicated the ‘Abbasid intention to move the capital
to another location in the future as part of the general aim to detach the
‘Abbasid caliphate from the Shi‘i movement. Pro-‘Abbasid traditions
appearing in Shi‘i sources are the remainders of this temporary alliance
of the two political-religious movements, the Shi‘ites and the ‘Abbasids,
against the Umayyad dynasty. Returning Kufa to the status of capital
of the caliphate in 132/749 symbolized the success of this cooperation.
Equally, the ‘Abbasid foundation of Baghdad symbolized the end of
this alliance83.
9. Bringing the Black Stone to Kufa
The expectations of the return of the mahdi did not stop after al-
Mukhtar’s death; they were kept by the Kaysaniyya movement, which
followed his path secretly. Several messianic sects, who were disap-
pointed with the results of the ‘Abbasid revolution, still existed among
Shi‘i circles of mystics in Kufa between the 8th and 10th centuries. Such
groups, mainly Ba†ini-Isma‘ilis, were expecting the return of the mahdi
in their period. It was only a matter of time until one of these messianic
Shi‘i groups would turn the prophecy of the removal of the Black Stone
from the Ka‘ba to Kufa from theory to practice.
The historical episode of the stealing of the Black Stone of the Ka‘ba
appears in every medieval historical book, since it shocked the Muslim
community and proved how destructive fitna (war between Muslims) can
be. Abu ™ahir al-Jannabi (d. 333/944), leader of the Qarma†ian-Isma‘ilis
of BaÌrayn, believing the return of the mahdi to be very close, sacked
Mecca in 317/930, murdered the pilgrims, threw their bodies at the Ka‘ba
and into the Zamzam well and stole the Black Stone. The stone was taken
82
IBN ABI AL-ÎADID, SharÌ nahj al-balagha, vol. 7, p. 155-157.
83
According to al-™abari, the reason for the caliph’s gradual withdrawal from Kufa
was the unstable situation in its region due to the existence of sects and rebellious groups
such as the Rawandiyya; see AL-™ABARI, Tarikh, vol. 4, p. 1601.

KUFA IS BETTER 225
to the Qarma†ian capital in AÌsa’, where it stayed until 339/951, the year
Abu ™ahir’s brothers brought it back, first to Kufa, then to Mecca84.
Until now, this event remains a mystery: why did the Qarma†ians steal
the Black Stone? And a more relevant question for our discussion: why
was the stone not returned directly to Mecca as expected, but to Kufa
first? Researchers are left with several contradictory answers given in
Sunni sources in light of the lack of original Qarma†ian sources85. We
suggest that the most reasonable explanation for these drastic Qarma†ian
acts, the stealing and the returning of the stone to Kufa, is simply the
famous prophecy of ‘Ali that the Black Stone would be returned to Kufa
at the end of time.
The Qarma†ians expected the advent of the mahdi in the form of
MuÌammad ibn Isma‘il, who was believed to be incarnated in a young
Persian in al-AÌsa‘ (BaÌrayn). The expectation for the end of time coin-
cided with astral signs as well as an old Zoroastrian prophecy of the
restoration of the reign of the Persian magians86. The young Persian who
was said to be a magian was discovered to be an impostor and was
executed, proving that the preparations for the end of time were in vain.
Shortly after the death of Abu ™ahir, leader of the Qarma†ians, the expec-
tation of the return of the mahdi was postponed.
Indeed, the Egyptian medieval historian al-Maqrizi (d. 846/1442), a
Sunni with Fa†imi roots, linked the Shi‘i prophecy of the return of the
Black Stone to Kufa and the act of the Qarma†ians87. The Sunni scholar
Badr al-Din al-‘Ayni (d. 855/1453) stated explicitly that: “forty camels
died carrying the stone from Mecca to Kufa; then he [Abu ™ahir], may God
84
IBN AL-ATHIR, al-Kamil fi al-tarikh, vol. 8, p. 207-208, 486; SUHAYL ZAKKAR, al-
Jami‘, p. 222-224; DAFTARY, The Assassin Legend, p. 21-22. Concerning astral signs of
the end of time, as predicted by the Qarma†ians, see IBN ™AHIR AL-BAGHDADI, al-Farq
bayna al-firaq, p. 272.
85
MADELUNG, The Fatimids, p. 45-49.
86
MADELUNG, Ëarma†i, p. 662. The messianic activity of the Qarma†ians and their
apocalyptic beliefs contradict the thesis of Faiza Akbar, that the objectives of the sect were
only political and economic and not religious; see AKBAR, The Secular Roots, p. 376-
390. In medieval as well as modern Islam, religious motives cannot be separated from
economic and political goals. In this context, it should be noted that the Black Stone has
more significance in Shi‘ism than in Sunnism. According to Shi‘i tradition, when ‘Umar
spoke about the Black Stone, saying that it was merely a stone, neither harmful nor useful,
‘Ali ibn Abi ™alib answered, that ‘Umar was wrong. According to ‘Ali, the Black Stone
was ordered to absorb the behavior of the Muslims during the Ìajj and to confess to God
concerning the believers’ loyalty; hence the Stone was both harmful and useful. See AL-
MAJLISI, BiÌar al-anwar, vol. 39, p. 227-228.
87
AL-MAQRIZI, Itti‘aÂ al-Ìunafa’, vol. 1, p. 6. al-Maqrizi does not attribute this
prophecy to ‘Ali ibn Abi ™alib, but to his grandson ‘Ali Zayn al-‘Abidin or to his son
MuÌammad.

226 Y. FRIEDMAN
curse him, hung the stone on the seventh pillar of the Great Mosque of
Kufa in its western corner, assuming that following this act the Ìajj would
turn to Kufa… then it was carried to Hajar [BaÌrayn]88”. The version of
the carrying of the stone directly from Mecca to Kufa is also mentioned
by Ibn Makula (d. 475/1082)89. This link between ‘Ali’s prophecy and the
Qarma†ian transfer of the Black Stone, was also made by the modern Shi‘i
scholar al-Buraqi (d. 1904), in his important Tarikh al-Kufa90.
In his research on the Qarma†ians, Farhad Daftary concluded that
their decision to return the Black Stone was a result of neither the pro-
posed ransom of the caliph of Baghdad nor the letter from the Fa†imi
caliph demanding its return. The first claim was intended to blame the
sect for greed and the second was illogical in the light of the theological
differences between Qarma†ians and Fa†imis as well as the autonomous
nature of the Qarma†ians. All these explanations appear in hostile Sunni
sources91. The Qarma†ian hung the stone in the Great Mosque of Kufa
“so that everybody would see it”, writes the historian Ibn al-Athir,
without further explanation. The Black Stone was placed exactly where,
some two centuries earlier, ‘Ali had delivered his prophecy. It was prob-
ably hung in the mosque to demonstrate where it would be placed in
the time of the mahdi. After a while the Qarma†ians returned it from its
holy location to what they considered its earthly and temporary place,
in Mecca92.
Before these events took place, during the six days of the pillage of Kufa
in 312/924 by the Qarma†ians, Ibn al-Athir describes bizarre visits to the
great mosque of the city by Abu ™ahir, every day until the evening93. The
mysterious activity of the Qarma†ian leader in the mosque of Kufa, only
six years before he stole the Black Stone, may also support the assumption
that the sect was planning to fulfill ‘Ali’s prophecy. The Qarma†ians had
had strong roots in Kufa from the time Îamdan Qarma† had founded the
sect there a century earlier94. Abu ™ahir also treated Kufan Shi‘ites better
than other Muslims, accepting their offer of protection of the pilgrims95.
88
AL-‘AYNI, ‘Umdat al-qari’, vol. 9, p. 242.
89
IBN MAKULA, al-Ikmal, vol. 4, p. 36.
90
AL-BURAQI, Tarikh al-Kufa, p. 83.
91
DAFTARY, The Assassin Legends, p. 21-22, 138; IDEM, Isma‘ilis, p. 823-832.
92
Abu ™ahir is said to recite a poem emphasizing that the Ìajj to Mecca represents the
state of jahiliyya; see AL-BURAQI, Tarikh al-Kufa, p. 84.
93
IBN AL-ATHIR, al-Kamil fi al-tarikh, vol. 8, p. 156. See also the same description by
the historian Thabit ibn Sinan (d. 365/976), in SUHAYL ZAKKAR, al-Jami‘, p. 217.
94
IBN MUSA AL-NAWBAKHTI, Firaq al-Shi‘a, p. 72-76; DAFTARY, Isma‘ilis, p. 832.
95
IBN AL-ATHIR, al-Kamil fi al-tarikh, vol. 8, p. 311; HALM, The Empire of the Mahdi,
p. 383-384.

KUFA IS BETTER 227
According to the account of the qa∂i ‘Abd al-Jabbar (d. 405/1025),

author of the ™abaqat al-Mu‘tazila, some Kufan Shi‘ites left the city and
went to BaÌrayn in order to join the mahdi, who they believed was about
to appear there96.
The 13th century geographer Yaqut, in his Mu‘jam al-buldan, provides
the most detailed description of the placing of the Black Stone in the
Great Mosque of Kufa. The Qarma†ians hung the Black Stone on the
seventh pillar (al-ustuwana al-sabi‘a), a place where ‘Ali used to pray97.
A Shi‘i scholar touched the hanging stone in order to be blessed by it.
When one Qarma†ian98 saw him he asked: “What would make you believe
that we took this stone and did not return another?” The scholar replied:
“If you throw it into water it will not sink”. Water was brought, the stone
was thrown into it and floated99. Was part of the stone hidden in al-AÌsa’
or in Kufa? An indication that only a part of the Black Stone was returned
eventually to Mecca is preserved in a tradition: during the carrying of the
stone to BaÌrayn many camels died because of its great weight, but when
it was returned to Mecca one camel was enough to carry it100. Another
question that should be asked is whether the Black Stone was returned at
all, or was the original hidden in Kufa?
10. Kufa as dar al-hijra
The famous tradition that “Kufa is the dome of Islam and the place of
migration” is mentioned in Shi‘i as well as Sunni sources. Most of the
Sunni sources give the same title to Medina, explaining that this is the
96
SUHAYL ZAKKAR, al-Jami‘ fi akhbar al-Qarami†a, p. 301.
97
See for example: AL-MAJLISI, Bihar al-anwar, vol. 97, p. 392-393. The seventh
pillar is also called “the sanctuary of Abraham” and it is the place of the prayer of the
angels on Judgment Day, see AL-KULAYNI, al-Kafi, vol. 3, p. 493.
98
According to Ibn Makula the Qarma†ian who was ordered to hang the Stone on
the seventh pillar was named Rakhma; see IBN MAKULA, al-Ikmal, vol. 4, p. 36. Accord-
ing to a Sunni source, when the Black Stone was hung in the mosque of Kufa, people
cried in excitement, “Allahu akbar” (God is greater), because they knew that ‘Ali’s
prophecy concerning the hanging of the Black Stone on the seventh pillar by a black man
named Rakhma had been fulfilled; see IBN MAKRAM IBN MANÅUR, MukhtaÒar, vol. 7,
p. 65 (biography of al-Îasan ibn MuÌammad al-Ma’umm). This accurate prophecy also
appears in Shi‘i sources; see for example AL-MAJLISI, BiÌar al-anwar, vol. 40, p. 191; IBN
ABI AL-ÎADID, SharÌ nahj al-balagha, p. 13-14.
99
YAQUT, Mu‘jam al-buldan, vol. 2, p. 258-259. See a similar description in AL-
QAZWINI, Athar al-bilad, p. 118.
100
AL-BURAQI, Tarikh al-Kufa, p. 83. Several sources report that the returned Black
Stone was severely damaged; see for example: IBN MAÎMUD AL-ALUSI, Jala’ al-aynayn,
vol. 1, p.146; AL-SUYU™I, Tarikh al-khulafa’, vol. 1, p. 345.

228 Y. FRIEDMAN
title given to a place from which the Muslim empire is ruled101. It can be
assumed that when Kufa became the capital of the empire, it was given
the title that Medina had, “the dome of Islam”. But the transfer of title
“land of the migration” to Kufa demands an explanation.
It is ‘Ali’s transfer of the capital from Medina to Kufa which gave his
new capital the title of dar al-hijra102, since his migration was as impor-
tant as that of the Prophet MuÌammad to Medina at the dawn of Islam.
The tactic of hijra represents migration from a place of weakness to
another place that enables him to return triumphant. MuÌammad migrated
to Medina in 622 after being persecuted by the Quraysh tribe, created a
new Ìaram in Medina and after eight years returned to Mecca victorious
and became the leader of the Arabian Peninsula. ‘Ali’s hijra to Kufa had
a similar goal, migrating to a new place where he would become power-
ful enough to rule the Muslim empire. Kufa also became the tomb and
the Ìaram of ‘Ali, in the same way that Medina became the tomb and
the Ìaram of the Prophet MuÌammad. Whether ‘Ali intended to return
to Medina or keep Kufa as his capital is unknown, since he was mur-
dered before fulfilling his goal of becoming the caliph of all the empire.
However, ‘Ali brought the term hijra to his followers and even the group
of the Khawarij who left his camp and revolted against him used this
term. A Shi‘i tradition speaks about three hijras (al-hijar al-thalath) in
Islam: that of Îabasha (Ethiopia), that of Medina and that of Kufa103.
The Isma‘ilis, developing the Shi‘i term hijra, called every one of their
cells dar al-hijra, following the same tactic of migration and founding
bases for attack104. One of them was the fortified dar al-hijra near al-
AÌsa’ of the Qarma†ians of BaÌrayn105. They left Kufa for BaÌrayn in
order to become powerful enough to conquer Baghdad. The removal of
the Black Stone was an important part of their messianic ambition.
The founder of the NuÒayri sect, al-Îusayn ibn Îamdan al-KhaÒibi106,
who was alive at the time the Black Stone was stolen, dedicated several
lines to Kufa in his Diwan. Some of these rhymes sum up Shi‘i mystical
101
See for example: AL-∑ALIÎI AL-SHAMI, Subul al-huda, vol. 3, p. 286, 288, 291;
AL-HINDI, Kanz al-‘ummal, vol. 12, p. 230. While both Kufa and Medina are called in
Arabic Qubbat al-Islam (dome of Islam) and dar al-hijra (house of the immigration),
Medina is also called ar∂ al-hijra (land of the migration). See the term hijra in WATT,
Hidjra, p. 367.
102
Kufa appears in several Shi‘i sources as ‘Ali’s dar al-hijra; see, for example: AL-
MAJLISI, BiÌar al-anwar, vol. 41, p. 41; vol. 44, p. 66; vol. 53, p. 20.
103
104
HODGSON, The Isma‘ili State, p. 439-440.
105
DAFTARY, The Isma‘ilis, p. 162.
106
FRIEDMAN, Al-Îusayn ibn Îamdan al-KhaÒibi, p. 91-112.

KUFA IS BETTER 229
beliefs concerning the dar al-hijra, the Black Stone and other traditions
related to Kufa:
Kufa of the righteous home of the waÒi [legatee, i.e. ‘Ali]/
and his hijra that is the home of peace
All the prophets and the messengers/
[came] to it and stayed in it
There the Imam ‘Ali , peace upon him, is found/
Turning it into his home in favor of the honorable ones
For his Shi‘a, for his supporters/
Who are united after the leader
And for the humans as well as the jinnis [spirits, supernatural creatures] of
pure light/
And [for those who] became exalted from the darkness
And the Ka‘ba of the Holy House will be transported/
To the Ìaram [of Kufa] of he who has so much honor [i.e. ‘Ali]
Besides the Mount Sinai in the blessed land/

Where there is the light of the end
There [in Kufa] God talked with Moses/
And indeed He gave him the best words
“A high ground, a place of rest security and flowing streams” [Qur‘an, al-
Mu’minun 23: 50]/
Where Mary bore the young boy [Jesus]
Jesus the masiÌ [Messiah] she had redeemed him/
The one I adore so much
[Kufa is] the place of the mi‘raj of AÌmad [another name for the Prophet
MuÌammad]107
Conclusion
After half a century of Muslim rule in Mesopotamia, ‘Ali’s grave

in Kufa took the place of the grave of the Catholicons as the holiest site
in the region. The Ìaram of ‘Ali, i.e. the Great Mosque of Kufa and
the Sahla mosque, replaced the Ka‘ba of Sindad as the site of pilgrimage
(ziyara and Ìajj). The rebellion in Mecca coincided with the revolt of
al-Mukhtar and gave a new dimension to the new sanctuary of ‘Ali. The
107
Diwan al-KhaÒibi, Ms. Manchester (John Rylands Library), Ms. Arab, fol. 48b-49a.
In this context, it should be stressed that Sindawi, although he does not mention al-KhaÒibi,
dedicates an important chapter in his research of the fa∂a’il al-Ghari to the poetic Shi‘i
genre of “merits of the Ghari”; see SINDAWI, Between the Two Gharis of Kufa, p. 142-
150.

230 Y. FRIEDMAN
Umayyads may have erected the magnificent mosque of Kufa in order to

compete with Christian sites in Îira and other Iraqi towns, in the same
way that mosques were built in Jerusalem in order to compete with the
churches of Syria. With the expectation of the Messiah in the very near
future, Kufa became in the end of the 7th century the alternative to Mecca
and it was then that the literature of fa∂a’il to glorify it was composed.
Several religious traditions, preserved mostly in Shi‘i literature, dem-
onstrate that for some periods Kufa was promoted to the level of the most
venerated place in the Muslim empire. Although documents explicitly
mentioning the performance of a Ìajj to Kufa have not been preserved,
it seems that the medieval site contains equivalent components to both
Jerusalem and Mecca, for example: 108
Jerusalem Kufa
Tradition of the isra’ to al-AqÒa Tradition of the isra’ to the Great
Mosque
The mi‘raj from the Dome of the Rock The mi‘raj from the Sahla mosque108
fa∂a’il Bayt al-Maqdis literature fa∂a’il al-Kufa literature
Mecca Kufa
The Black Stone The green stone in Sahla mosque
Founded by Abraham Founded by Abraham
Holy water of Zamzam Holy water of Euphrates
Site of pilgrimage once in a lifetime Site of the Ìashr in the time of the
mahdi
The holy mosque of the Ka‘ba The Great Mosque of Kufa and
al-Sahla mosque
Ìaram of God Ìaram of God and of ‘Ali
In the Muslim empire, the transfer of the capital out of Arabia, far from
the Ìaram of Mecca, demanded the existence of an equivalent or at least
a secondary sanctuary which would legitimize such a drastic step. The
capital Medina was legitimized by the location of the tomb of the Prophet
MuÌammad in that city and the proximity of Mecca. Damascus, the cap-
ital of the Umayyads, was legitimized by its proximity to Jerusalem, city
108
For the exact location of the mi‘raj at the Sahla mosque, see AL-MAJLISI, BiÌar
al-anwar, vol. 97, p. 437.

KUFA IS BETTER 231
of the first qibla and of the isra’ and the mi‘raj109. Kufa was legitimized
by ‘Ali who later created a new dar al-hijra with his tomb and a sanctu-
ary associated with the prayer of all prophets as well as the isra’ and the
mi‘raj.
It is probable that the holy status of Kufa became in time a Shi‘i
characteristic and less a general Iraqi Islamic phenomenon. Over time addi-
tional Shi‘i sanctuaries were created, shrines of Imams and other members
of the ahl al-bayt, in particular: Jannat al-Baqi‘ in Medina, the tomb of
Îusayn and the ‘Abbas mosque in Karbala’, the mosques of Zaynab and
Ruqayya in Damascus, al-Ri∂a’s shrine in Mashhad, al-KaÂimiyya in
Baghdad, al-‘Askari mosque in Samarra, and more. Hence, in later tradi-
tions, Kufa’s original central role was forgotten even by the Shi‘i com-
munity. This may explain why there are only a few books of fa∂a’il
al-Kufa today.
While Kufa lost its centrality and suffered devastation, Jerusalem’s
fa∂a’il Bayt al-Maqdis were preserved due to their repeated relevance in
history. These traditions served as important propaganda during the con-
quest of Jerusalem by Crusaders and in modern history as an important
instrument to promote the Palestinian national movement. While Jerusa-
lem and its mosques were renovated several times, Kufa was neglected
for centuries110. Archeological excavations in the town, which took
place in the 1960s, are only a first and insufficient step toward revealing
Kufa’s secrets111.
When verifying the Sunni sources, we have to assume that the author-
ities’ interest was to make disappear any remnant of the glorification of
Kufa, the capital of the Shi‘i opposition, after the rebellion of Ibn Zubayr.
Nevertheless, the Sunni censorship was not total. Traces of the “merits
of Kufa” in Sunni sources are few but still exist, mainly in geographic
109
ELAD, Medieval Jerusalem, p. 147-163.
110
See Niebuhr’s description of Kufa at the beginning of the 20th century, in EI1,
vol. 2, p. 216.
111
See for example MUSTAFA, Preliminary Report, p. 36-65. These excavations, how-
ever, did not take place in the mosque but mainly in the Dar al-‘Imara. A description of
the actual situation of the Great Mosque is found in a publication of the Iraqi Government
Bureau of Antiquities: Masjid al-Kufa. According to this document, the actual mosque is
situated in the same place as the medieval mosque, southeast of actual Kufa and it includes
the mashhad of ‘Ali and a place believed to be the site where the water of the deluge
finally drained. According to this report, five and a half meters of the walls of the mosque
are sunken in the ground, due to negligence and its antiquity; see ibidem, 1-10 and the
map on p. 31. The most recent description of the Sahla mosque is in the commentaries of
IBN JA‘FAR AL-MASHHADI, Fa∂l al-Kufa, p. 39, note 1. According to this description, there
is a graveyard in the mosque and a maqam al-mahdi also called maqam ÒaÌib al-zaman
near the wall of the qibla.

232 Y. FRIEDMAN
literature (Yaqut, Qazwini). Sunni travelers who passed through Kufa in

the late medieval period heard these traditions from locals when the city
was already ruined, and expressed their skepticism. After hearing tradi-
tions similar to those mentioned earlier concerning Kufa, the Andalusian
Ibn Jubayr (d. 614/1217) writes: “We have received the information con-
cerning these holy sites [in Kufa] from the words of local old men from
the town and transmitted them as they told us, only God knows the truth
in all these matters”112. The Moroccan traveler Ibn Ba††u†a (d. 779/1377),
after citing traditions from the Kufans concerning the mosques of the
city, also concludes with the same sentence113.
The pilgrimage to Mecca is one of the five pillars of Islam and as
such it concerns a Muslim’s obligations in this world. Kufa’s sanctity is
associated only with mystical beliefs and events that are expected to
happen at the end of time. The first town is linked to an exoteric (Âahir)
belief, the second to an esoteric faith (ba†in). Hints of these differences
can be found in the names of Kufa. For example, Yaqut explains that
the meaning of the name Kufa in Arabic is “a round pile of sand” and
that “it is said that it has received this name due to the congregation of
people in it”, a tradition that describes its cultural and religious attrac-
tiveness, but may equally refer to the congregation of the Ìajj as well as
to the prophecy of the Ìashr to it114. Kufa is also called “the treasure of
belief” (kanz al-iman) and this may also serve as an indication of a hid-
den religious significance.
In conclusion, the famous saying of the Shi‘i Imams, when speaking
about Kufa, “If people knew what it contains they would come to it, even
crawling on snow”, reveals the need to conceal the mystical meaning of
this town, following the Shi‘i obligation of precaution (taqiyya/kitman).
Fundamental terms in Islam were associated with Kufa: hijra, Ìaram,
Ìajj, absorbing new significances which are not totally clear to us today.
In other words, the sanctity of Kufa was (and perhaps still is) a mysterious
issue known only to a few privileged men of religion, kept secret in order
to keep the Shi‘i community safe.
This study of Kufa is meant to provide an introduction to a thorough
study of the sanctity of Kufa in Islam, and may equally serve researchers
seeking to follow the traces of the lost parts of the Black Stone of the
Ka‘ba.
112
IBN JUBAYR, Risalat i‘tibar al-nasik, p. 168-169.
113
IBN BA™™U™A, TuÌfat al-nuÂÂar, vol. 3, p. 54-55.
114
YAQUT, Mu‘jam al-buldan, vol. 4, p. 557.

KUFA IS BETTER 233
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KUFA IS BETTER 235
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236 Y. FRIEDMAN
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Beit Lehem St. 47/7 Yaron FRIEDMAN

IL-Haifa 35567, Israel
dyitamar@yahoo.com
Abstract — The article deals with the religious importance of Kufa, one of the
first garrison towns created by the Muslim conquerors of Iraq in the 7th century.
It suggests that the site of Kufa had a religious background combining Nestorian
Christianity and Arab paganism. Medieval Muslim traditions attributed to Kufa
are analyzed. Most of them are ascribed to the Great Mosque and the smaller
Sahla mosque. Shi‘i texts clearly indicate that the holiness of Kufa was equal to
that of Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem in primitive Shi’ism and even surpassed
their importance for two short periods. The article examines for the first time in
research the genre of fa∂a’il al-Kufa (the merits of Kufa) literature, written in
order to glorify this holy site, probably during the same period as the fa∂a’il Bayt
al-Maqdis (merits of Jerusalem) literature. The fa∂a’il al-Kufa were censored by
the Sunni authorities but fragments are still to be found in Sunni sources, mainly
in medieval geography books. Most of the genre survived in Shi‘i sources. The
analysis of the holiness of Kufa provides a solution to the unsolved question of
why in the 10th century the Qarma†ians stole the Black Stone from Mecca, and
why they returned it to Kufa before returning it to Mecca.
APPENDIX
THE FAΔA’IL AL-KUFA LITERATURE
The following is a list of medieval fa∂a’il al-Kufa books mentioned in Sunni

and Shi‘i sources, including their authors and other information if available:

KUFA IS BETTER 237
1. Abu al-Îasan ‘Ali ibn Îasan (Kufa), al-Kufa115

2. Abu Ja‘far MuÌammad ibn AÌmad al-Hudhali “Îamran” (Kufa), Fa∂l al-
Kufa116
3. Abu Ja‘far ibn Bakran ibn ‘Umran al-Razi (Kufa), al-Kufa117
4. Abu ™ahir MuÌammad ibn ‘Ubayd al-Zarari, Fa∂l al-Kufa ‘ala ‘l-BaÒra118
5. AÌmad ibn MuÌammad ibn Sa‘id (Kufa), Fa∂l al-Kufa119
6. MuÌammad ibn ‘Ali ibn al-Fa∂l, al-Kufa120
7. MuÌammad ibn ‘Abd al-Karim al-Borujerdi al-™aba†aba’i, Risala fi Fa∂l
masjid al-Kufa wa-’l-Òalat fiha wa-fawa‘id ukhra121
8. Abu IsÌaq Ibrahim ibn MuÌammad al-Thaqafi (Kufa, d. 283/896), Fa∂l al-
Kufa wa-man nazalaha min al-∑aÌaba122
9. Abu MuÌammad Ja‘far ibn Îusayn “al-Mu’min” (Qumm, d. 340/951), Fa∂l
al-Kufa wa-masajiduha123
10. Abu al-‘Abbas ibn ‘Uqda al-Jarudi (d. 333/944), Fa∂l al-Kufa124
11. Abu al-‘Abbas AÌmad ibn ‘Abbas al-Najashi (d. 450/1058), al-Kufa wa-ma
warada fiha min al-athar wa-’l-Fa∂a’il125
12. Abu ‘Abdallah MuÌammad ibn ‘Ali al-Îasani (Kufa, 5th/11th century), Fa∂l
Kufa wa-ahliha126
13. MuÌammad ibn Ja‘far al-Mashhadi al-Îa’iri (6th//12th century), Fa∂l al-Kufa
wa-masajiduha127
115
YAQUT, Mu‘jam al-buldan, vol. 18, p. 184; AL-™USI, Fihrist, p. 92; AL-NAJASHI,
Rijal, p. 257-258, appears also as ‘Ali ibn Îasan ibn Fa∂∂al.
116
AL-™AHRANI, al-Dhari‘a, vol. 16, p. 272. According to AL-NAJASHI, Rijal, p. 341,
he was nicknamed “Îamdan” and his nisba was al-Nahdi rather than al-Hudhali.
117
AL-NAJASHI, Rijal, p. 394; AL-™AHRANI, al-Dhari‘a, vol. 18, p. 184.
118
AL-NAJASHI, Rijal, p. 398; AL-™AHRANI, al-Dhari‘a, vol. 16, p. 272. The author
claims that it is an epistle which is still available.
119
AL-NAJASHI, Rijal, p. 94; AL-™USI, Fihrist, p. 28-29. The author was a mawla, a
learned Zaydi scholar.
120
AL-NAJASHI, Rijal, p. 385; AL-™AHRANI, al-Dhari‘a, vol. 16, p. 273.
121
AL-™AHRANI, al-Dhari‘a, vol. 16, p. 273. According to the author, two copies of this
epistle are available in Iran.
122
AL-NAJASHI, Rijal, p. 17; AL-™USI, Fihrist, p. 5; AL-™AHRANI, al-Dhari‘a, vol. 16,
p. 272. Sunnis: Ibn ÎAJAR, Lisan al-mizan, vol. 1, p. 102. The author’s ancestors were
relatives of Mukhtar, the famous rebel from Kufa. He was a Zaydi who became an Imami
Shi‘i and went to Isfahan because of his extremist views.
123
AL-NAJASHI, Rijal, p. 123.
124
AL-™AHRANI, al-Dhari‘a, vol. 16, p. 272.
125
AL-™AHRANI, al-Dhari‘a, vol. 18, p. 184. Appears as AÌmad ibn ‘Ali ibn AÌmad
ibn ‘Abbas, in al-NAJASHI, Rijal, p. 101.
126
AL-MAJLISI, BiÌar al-anwar, vol. 97, p. 213; AL-ÎURR AL-‘AMILI, Wasa’il al-Shi‘a,
vol. 3, p. 161; appears as Fa∂l Kufa wa-Fa∂l ahliha in AGHA BUZURG AL-™AHRANI, al-
Dhari‘a ila taÒanif al-Shi‘a, Tehran, 1968, vol. 16, p. 272. According to Kohlberg the
author’s nisba is al-Bu†Ìa’i and he lived in the first half of the 5th/11th century; the first
part of the book is available in manuscript; see KOHLBERG, A Medieval Muslim Scholar,
p. 220. The book was printed in Beirut, Mu’assasat Ahl al-Bayt, 1988.
127
IBN JA‘FAR AL-MASHHADI, Fa∂l al-Kufa.

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“KUFA IS BETTER”

The Sanctity of Kufa in Early Islam and Shi‘ism in Particular

Le Muséon 126 (1-2), 203-237. doi: 10.2143/MUS.126.1.2983537 - Tous droits réservés.

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on Jerusalem in Shi‘i tradition3. Nevertheless, both Kister and Livne-

Before we discuss the genre of fa∂a’il al-Kufa we will provide a sum-

1. Capital of the Muslim Empire

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2. Traces of an honorable past

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Zakariyya al-Qazwini (d. 682/1283), another Sunni geographer, astron-

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3. Kufa: An alternative Ìajj for the Muslims in Iraq?

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it should not be understood as a split in Islam, but rather a political incli-

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Kufa to Medina, and the nearness of Khawarnaq and Îira to proximity

4. The fa∂a’il al-Kufa traditions

4.1. A sacred city

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4.2. Equal to Jerusalem

4.3. Superior to Jerusalem

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4.4. Equal to Mecca

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4.5. Superior to Mecca

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5. The alternative object of sanctity: the green stone of Kufa

The traditions we have mentioned55 place Kufa above every sacred

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God created all the prophets in history58. According to another tradition,

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the sanctuary in later periods, since it was a result of Jewish influence.

7. Kufa = ‘Ali = the qibla

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(d. 672/1274) and later on in the writings of the nineteenth-century Dha-

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to another) between the Ka‘ba, the mosque of the Prophet MuÌammad in

8. Reuse of the fa∂a’il al-Kufa in the early ‘Abbasid period

The interesting phenomenon of the reuse of traditions of fa∂a’il lit-

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c. In the time of al- SaffaÌ, Ja‘far explained the significance of every

Although SaffaÌ was proclaimed caliph in the Great Mosque of Kufa

9. Bringing the Black Stone to Kufa

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According to the account of the qa∂i ‘Abd al-Jabbar (d. 405/1025),

10. Kufa as dar al-hijra

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Besides the Mount Sinai in the blessed land/

After half a century of Muslim rule in Mesopotamia, ‘Ali’s grave

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Umayyads may have erected the magnificent mosque of Kufa in order to

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