This article is about shrine in Afghanistan. For the shrine in Iraq, see
Imam Ali Shrine.
The Mausoleum of Ali (Persian: مَقَام عَلِيّ, romanized: Maqām ʿAlī), located in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, is a mosque which some Sufi Sunnis believe contains the tomb of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib. This site is visited particularly by Naqshbandi sufis.
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Many pilgrims annually celebrate Nowruz at the site. At the annual Jahenda Bala ceremony a flag is raised in honour of Alī. People touch the flag for supposed luck in the New Year.[1][2]
The first structure of the site dates back to the Seljuk era. It was built by Sultan Ahmad Sanjar in the 11th century, over the grave of the Hanafi Maturidi[3] scholar and mystic, Ali ibn Abi Talib al-Balkhi.[4] He was a distant descendant of the fourth Rashidun caliph, Ali ibn Abi Talib. [5] To honour the scholar, the Sultan built the mosque and shrine complex over his grave site.
In the 13th century, the Mongols under Genghis Khan invaded Balkh, where they massacred the Balkhi population and destroyed their places of worship. The mosque built by Sanjar was destroyed by the Mongols in the year 1220.[6]
In the 15th century, the Timurid amir, Sultan Husayn Bayqara, ordered a reconstruction of the destroyed building.[7] Local legend relates that the Sultan and his assistants were digging in the area when they saw a tombstone reading "This is the grave of Asadullah Ghalib, the friend of Rasul Allah, Ali Waliullah" which the other people rejoiced upon seeing.
In later years, various rulers made repairs and endowments, including the Shaybanid emir Abdul-Mo'min bin Abdullah Khan, who built a dome. Later, Berdi Beg, the Khan of the Golden Horde who reigned from 1357 to 1359, added several decorations to the building. In the modern era, a plan was created to renovate the whole complex in 1910.[8]
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