Al Kalf & Najaf: A tomb, a cemetery, and the Imam Ali Shrine...

Apr 17
5 min read

December 8 – Al Kafl & Najaf

Our day started with an hour drive north of Najaf to the city of Al-Kafl to see the 6^th century BCE tomb of the prophet Ezekiel. The building was originally a synagogue and now serves as a mosque. It is a holy site for both Jews and Muslims. Because it is now a mosque, the women did need to wear our abayas and enter through the women’s entrance. Once inside, both men and women could view the shrine.

Ezekiel’s tomb still has Hebrew script above it. The room of the tomb is gated because it is unsafe to enter, so we took turns viewing through the gate. We were told that it is under restoration, though we saw no signs of work. The tomb area is very old compared to the rest of the building. One minuet is older that the other and had been restored because it was leaning. The mosque area of the building had a large wall hanging honoring Aisha. We saw one other shrine in the mosque area but I can’t recall the name. We were the only visitors.

Exiting the mosque, we entered and wandered the very old souk area. We had tea at a tea stall and met the “4 Alis” – 4 very friendly men all named Ali who were eager to speak with us and have photos taken!

We returned to Najaf for lunch at a local restaurant the serves cafeteria style. One enters the doors, grabs a tray and then walks down an isle of servers behind large bins of food – mostly filled with various stews featuring chicken, meat, or fish, vegetable sides, and a selection of 4 rices (plain, brown, tomato, and dill with fava beans). The rice is topped with vermicelli noodles and an almond mixture. I had a chicken with potato main, a side of eggplant with tomatoes, and brown rice. I could have had a second side dish- but, again, the amount of food was huge and I had already asked for ½ the rice the locals get! We sat together at a long table. After lunch we rested at the hotel for a couple of hours.

At 3:30pm we gathered for the afternoon adventures: The Wadi As-Salam Cemetery and the Imam Ali Shrine…

First was the Wadi As-Salam Cemetery, the largest cemetery in the world. It was originally as Jewish cemetery but became a very important cemetery for Muslims, especially Shi’a because of its proximity to the Imam Ali Shrine. At over 1,000 acres it has reached its limits of grave sites, but sites now have a time limit of 99 years when remains may be moved to make way for new burials. Wadi As-Salam means “Valley of Peace”. Tradition holds that the land was originally bought by the prophet Abraham and that Ali called it a “piece of heaven’. Shia believe they will ascend directly to heaven if buried there. The closer a burial site is to the mausoleum of Iman Ali, the more expensive the site. We drove through a small section of the cemetery an array of plots from recent to crumbling with age.

We parked on the outer edge of the cemetery and walked a few blocks to the Shrine of Imam Ali. This is where Muslims believe Ali is buried and it attracts pilgrims from around the world. We entered a section of the very large outer courtyard crowded with pilgrims, women all in abayas and men long pants and long sleeves – a few in traditional galabeyas. We passed groups praying before they entered. Much of the outer courtyard is covered with metal canopies over marble tile floor. It was such a frenzy of people, we decided to leave our shoes with our driver, picked a numbered canopy column as a meeting place, and then head to our separate entrances for men and women.

The mosque is huge complex elaborately decorated inside and out. The shrine is in the middle of the complex. The surrounding areas contain large open segregated rooms or areas for men and women to rest or pray. Everywhere the ceilings were covered with mirror tiles, beautiful mosaic designs on the walls, rich Arabian carpeting, and lit with large crystal chandeliers.

The central shrine hall is divided in two by six-foot wall partitions to separate the men’s and women’s viewing areas. We had to get in line to enter the women’s section. It was slow moving and the closer we got to the shrine the more compact we became – like sardines. I could only see the upper part of the shrine due to the crowd. Women were very emotional, some in tears, some had small children by the hand or babies in their arms, and many were taking photos with their phones. I saw a few women hold their baby up and touch the shrine with them. Everyone wanted to touch the shrine, but if you lingered too long, there were a couple of women with feather dusters who would tap you on the head to let you know you needed to move on so others could have a chance. Leaving the shrine area was almost as slow as entering it, it seemed they all wanted to remain as long as they could.

There was a powerful emotion here that I hadn’t felt at the other shrines. I could see men and women in the outer areas so overcome with emotion, and even exhausted from the experience. I realized I wasn’t there for the same reason these people were – I was a voyeur not a believer. I felt like an intruder and I didn’t want to linger. I was relieved when we exited into the central courtyard then joined the men in the outer courtyard. Fred said he didn’t experience as much raw emotion on the men’s side. Though, as they were leaving, he did witness a group of men bring in a coffin of a loved one to be blessed.

We took a short stroll through the Grand Najaf Souk, witnessed a craftsman making the men’s agal, enjoyed some sweets, and then headed back to the hotel for dinner and the night.