17/03/2024
MAZAR-i-SHARIF
Mazar-i-Sharif is the provincial center of Balkh, a northern province of Afghanistan. It borders 3 neighboring countries including: Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Therefore, this province plays a significant role in imports and exports. Also, this province neighbors Amu River. Additionally, due to its geography and location, this province is extremely hot during summer. It is also the birth place of RUMI.
The region around Mazar-i-Sharif has been historically part of Greater Khorasan and was controlled by the Tahirids followed by the Saffarids, Samanids, Ghaznavids, Ghurids, Ilkhanates, Timurids, and Khanate of Bukhara until 1751 when it became part of the Durrani Empire (although under autonomous emirs). Eventually the city passed to a few local rulers before becoming part of Afghanistan in 1849.
The Mausoleum of Ali goes by the official name of Sultan Ahmed Mosque. (Persian: مَقَام عَلِيّ, romanized: Maqām ʿAlī), located in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, is a mosque and resting place which Afghans believe contains the tomb of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, This site is visited particularly by Naqshbandi Sufis.
According to tradition, in 661, shortly after the murder of Ali and the burial of his body at Najaf, near Baghdad (in present day Iraq), some of Ali’s followers worried that his enemies would desecrate his body. Therefore, they decided to remove his body and hide it in a secret location. Ali’s remains were placed on a white female camel, which wandered eastward for several weeks until it ultimately fell to the ground exhausted. The body was then reburied where the camel fell, and its location forgotten.
The founding of the actual shrine of Mazar-i-Sharif owes its existence to a dream. At the beginning of the 1100s, a local mullah in the village of Khwaja Khayran had a dream in which Ali bin Abi Talib, Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law and one of the four Rightly Guided Caliphs, appeared to reveal that he had been secretly buried near the city of Balkh (near present day Marzari Sharif). In 1136, after locating the site, the Seljuk sultan Ahmed Sanjar ordered a city and shrine to be built on the spot, where it stood until its destruction by the Mongol warlord Genghis Khan around 1220. Another legend concerning the Blue Mosque was that the holy site was buried under a mound to save it from the fury of the Mongols. Destroyed by Mongols or not, two centuries later, in 1480, the shrine was rebuilt by the Timurid sultan Husain Baiqara which still exists to this day; furthering the town’s development into a large urban center.
The Timurid core of the shrine contains the tomb chamber of Ali, whose blue-tiled domes rise above the shrine’s roofline. Tombs of various shape and size belonging to different Afghan rulers and religious leaders were added to the Timurid shrine through the centuries, creating its current irregular dimensions. including: the square domed tomb of Emir Dost Muhammad Khan, Wazir Akbar Khan and a similar structure for Emir Sher Ali and his family.
The shrine is roughly rectangular in plan, and measures about fifty-three meters by thirty-eight meters at the largest. It is aligned northwest southeast and is enclosed within a fenced precinct built in mid-twentieth century. When you look at it, the structure appears to be floating, a trick of Islamic architecture, which uses intricately painted clay tiles. The tiles constantly need to be replaced — two square feet every day — from exposure to the natural elements and because the corners of certain tiles are often stolen by pilgrims as religious mementos.
The shrine’s exterior is covered entirely with polychrome tile mosaic and painted tile panels dominated by shades of blue. Many of these tiles were renewed or replaced during twentieth century renovations. One of the few remaining artifacts from the earlier shrine is a marble slab inscribed with the words, “Ali, Lion of God.” The holy tomb of Ali draws Shi’a pilgrims throughout the year, and especially during the celebration Persian of New Year (Neuroz) on 21st of March.
Many pilgrims annually celebrate Nowruz at the site. At the annual Jahenda Bala ceremony a flag is raised in honor of Alī. People touch the flag for supposed luck in the New Year. If the flag is raised by the very first attempt and easily, it indicates a year of prosperity and the opposite if otherwise.
The white doves act like they live here and they do. They have been raised by the Blue Mosque's attendants since it was built in the 12th century and they have become one of its famous symbols.
Legend has it that the doves are pure white because of the sanctity of the mosque itself; if a dove with a speck of color flies in and stays, it too will turn white as snow.
To one side of the mosque complex is the pigeon house. It is a large, low concrete box with small windows and most of its space below ground. This is where the doves nest and breed year-round. It is also where they are fed.
The Blue Mosque offers a tranquil escape from the hustle and bustle of Mazar-i-Sharif’s streets and bazaars. It is consistently quiet, except for when the muezzin makes one of the daily calls for prayer.
Mazar-i-Sharif was and is a hub and center for Sufism, particularly by Naqshbandi Sufis.
Sufism is a mystical and ascetic Islam practiced by tens of millions of Muslims known as “Tasawwuf”.
Among the captivating rituals in Sufism is the Sema, or the Whirling Dervishes ceremony. Far from mere performance, this dance is a spiritual ritual, a prayer in motion. The dancers, or dervishes, whirl in a state of deep meditation, embodying the mystical journey of spiritual ascent through love and devotion.
AT THE END, there is a legend that the Persian prophet Zoroaster was buried here. He was the founder of one of the world’s first monotheistic religion, Zoroastrianism. This was once widely practiced in Persia and there are still followers of the teaching of Zoroaster in Iran and India. It is important to say that the Persian prophet died in the nearby city of Balk, which is now abandoned.
Most Muslims consider that Ali is buried in Imam Ali Mosque, Najaf in Iraq. Burying upon previous holy burials was a common practice in new Islamic establishments. Alternatively, the personage buried in the shrine may have predated Islam. Identifying the shrine with Ali could likely be a myth to ensure the tomb would be protected and honored by the Islamic establishment. The word Mazar-i-Sharif predates the construction of the blue mosque as well as Islam. Naming a resting place after an individual is common but naming a whole city after them, indicates the greatness and importance of that individual and probably there was a Zorostrian fire temple adjacent to the tomb.
However, the Afghan government did not grant permission for excavation, analyzing and testing and so far this theory has not been proven.
