A. EL SANDOUBY 673ARAM, 18-19 (2006-2007) 673-693. doi: 10.2143/ARAM.19.0.2020752

THE PLACES OF AHL AL-BAYT IN BILAD AL-SHAM:THE MAKING OF A “SHRINE”1

Mrs. ALIAA EL SANDOUBY, PhD Candidate

(University of California at LA)

Most Muslim tourists traveling to Syria today enjoy performing ziyara (pi-ous visitation) to the many places there commemorating the presence of Ahlal-bayt (family of the Prophet Muhammad). Those tourists who participate inorganized tours to Damascene and other Syrian ziyara places are continuouslyconscious of Syria’s sacred geography and the opportunities for religious con-tact with Ahl al-bayt that most Syrian cities provide.2 This sense of conscious-ness of the places that could bear evidence of an Ahl al-bayt presence waswhat brought visitors and pilgrims to Damascus and other cities in the Biladal-Sham region for centuries.3 While this sense of spiritual awareness and theoverall religious experience of today’s tourists and that of medieval pilgrimsmay not differ much (the set of behaviors, rituals and beliefs are as best as wecan tell substantially similar), their visual experience of the spaces of Ahl al-bayt has certainly changed with time. This paper is concerned with some of theaspects that contributed to the making of “shrines” for Ahl al-bayt in Bilad al-Sham. The dynamics that were involved in the making and remaking of theseplaces included the set of narratives that were usually displayed within theseplaces and that were often activated through sustained ritual participation.This sustained engagement between narrative, form and ritual continue to de-fine these places until today.

The choice of terminology for this inquiry is challenging. The use of theterm “shrine,” like many other terms borrowed from the Christian and westernunderstanding, is problematic in the context of Islam.4 More problematic is

1 This paper is part of my larger inquiry into the history and use of the Ahl al-bayt shrines inCairo and Damascus from the medieval to the modern period.

2 Several travel agencies offer packaged tours of the Ahl al-bayt shrines and other popularziyara destinations in Syrian cities, mainly for Iranian visitors. The establishment of the Tehran-Damascus train route in 2002 has provided an alternative cheap method for Iranian pilgrims, whowould otherwise travel by bus to Damascus. Most tours include the shrines of Zaynab andRuqayya in Damascus, then offer bus tours to either the shrine of Abu Dharr al-Ghifari in Hims,the shrine of al-Husayn in Aleppo, or that of ‘Ammar Ibn Yasir and other Companions in Raqqaand a return by bus to Damascus.

3 Damascus was part of the Bilad al-Sham region or Greater Syria which once included whatis today Syria, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, and Lebanon.

4 “Saint” is another problematic term that cannot be applied to the Islamic context. For a fulldiscussion of the variety of terms used to denote the spiritual status of revered holy figures inIslam, particularly in the Indian Subcontinent, see: P. M. Currie, The Shrine and Cult of Mu'inal-Din Chishti of Ajmer (Delhi: 1992), 1-15.

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selecting one word in the English language that translates the variety of termsused in medieval Arabic sources to denote such places. Arabic terms such as:mashhad, maqam, darih, mazar and masjid were interchangeably used in me-dieval Arabic texts to denote such places.5 Each of these words present com-plex ranges of meanings relating to distinct forms and practices that developedover time. The term “mashhad, pl. mashahid” was generally used to refer to acommemorative structure that contains or marks the tomb of a holy figure, orto refer to a site of religious visitation.6 According to Ibn Sida (d. 458/1065-6),al-mashhad is the place where people are assembled or gathered, andmashahid Makka are the places of gatherings at Mecca.7 Ibn Manzur (d. 711/1311-2) identifies al-mashhad as a place where a martyr (shahid) or a holy fig-ure had died.8 “Maqam, pl. maqamat” is another term commonly used in ref-erence to the Ahl al-bayt shrines. Medieval Arabic dictionaries identify themaqam as a place of the feet, a place of stationing, and a place of continuance,stay or residence. Maqam Ibrahim at the Ka‘ba is the place of his footprints(mawdi‘ qadamuh).9 al-Maqam al-karim (the noble maqam),10 promised in theQur’an to believers in Heaven, has been identified as a minbar (pulpit), or amanzila hasana (distinguished position), or a majlis (assembly).11 The word“darih, pl. adriha” refers to a trench in the middle of the grave, or to the gravealtogether.12 The term “mazar, pl. mazarat,” comes from the same root ofziyara and refers to a place, and time, of visiting. “Masjid, pl. masajid” (lit.the place of prostration, place of prayer) often refers to the shrines whenmosques are attached to them.13

The Ahl al-bayt shrines and other revered places were presumably namedafter their most striking functions; they were places of witnessing (mashhad),visitation (mazar) and prostration (masjid). Apparently “shrines” in this con-

5 The terms qabr, turba and marqad were also used.6 Reinhart Pieter Anne Dozy, Supplément aux dictionnaires arabes, 2 vols. (Beirut: Librairie

Liban, 1968), 1: 794. See also: Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd ed. (hereafter, EI2) (Leiden, 1956 – ),s.v. “Mashhad.”

7 Abi'l Hasan ‘Ali Ibn Isma'il Ibn Sidah, al-Muhkam wa-al-muhit al-a'zam, 11 vols. (Beirut:Dar al-Kutub al-’Ilmiya, 2000), 4:182. See also, Majd al-Din Muhammad al-Fayruz Badi, al-Qamus al-muhit, 4 vols. (Cairo: al-Babi al-Halabi, 1952), 1: 317.

8 Muhammad Ibn Mukarram Ibn Manzur, Lisan al-'arab, 15 vols. (Beirut: Dar Sadir, 1955),3: 241.

9 'Ali Ibn Abi Bakr al-Harawi, Kitab al-isharat ila ma’rifat al-ziyarat (Damascus: al-Ma’hadal-Firinsi bi-Dimashq, 1953), 86.

10 Qur’an, 44: 26.11 Ibn Manzur, Lisan, 12: 498, 506. Ibn Sidah, al-Muhkam, 6:589, 595.12 Ibn Manzur, Lisan, 2: 526-527. Ibn Sidah, al-Muhkam, 3 127.13 See: Ibn Manzur, Lisan, 3: 204-205. For a discussion of the use of the terms “mashhad”

and “masjid” in the context of the Ahl al-bayt shrines built by the Fatimids in Cairo, see:Thomas Leisten, “Dynastic Tomb or Private Mausolea: Observations on the Concept ofFunerary Structures of the Fatimid and ‘Abbasid Caliphs,” in L'Egypte fatimide, son art et sonhistoire, ed. Marianne Barrucand (Paris: Presse de l'Université de Paris-Sorbonne, 1999), 478,f.n. 107.

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text were perceived to be places where people would assemble for ritual prac-tice. The presence and movement of pilgrims and ritual participants is indeedcentral to the continuity of such places.14 Yet, in the collective perception of a“shrine,” architecture plays a crucial role. It represents the visual and physicalsignifier of the shrine’s space. A building recognized as mashhad in khitat andfada’il sources often, but not always, had a dome (qubba), usually placed ontop of the specific place that marks the burial within the larger structure.15

Both of these aspects of the shrines’ space (ritual and physical form) were sus-tained through the conscious use of narrative.16 Without an active narrativetestifying to the “truthfulness” of these shrine places, as this paper will dem-onstrate, pilgrims and visitors often abandoned these places, and eventually,their physical manifestations fell into neglect.

Ahl al-bayt in the sacred geography of Bilad al-Sham:

The special reverence that all Muslims hold for Ahl al-bayt is based on theobvious textual endorsement of their love and devotion in the Qur’an and thehadith.17 The support for this special standing in the Qur’an is found mainly inverse 33:3318 (God wishes only to remove filthiness away from you ahl al-bayt and to cleanse you completely).19 Different interpretations of the precise

14 Robert S. Nelson and Margaret Rose Olin, Monuments and Memory, Made and Unmade(University of Chicago Press, 2003), 11.

15 Qubba is another term that was used in reference to shrines and mausolea. For a discussionof the architectural connotation of this term in the palatial context, see: Nasser Rabbat, “MamlukThrone Halls: Qubba or Iwan,” Ars Orientalis 23 (1993): 202.

16 May al-Ibrashy, “Re-Shaping Memory, Re-Shaping Space: The Periodic Re-Invention ofCairo's Cemeteries,” in Spaces and Places of Virtue: The Dynamics of Sanctification. (TheCenter for Near Eastern Studies, UCLA International Institute Roundtable: 2003).

17 For the virtues of love and devotion to Ahl al-bayt, see: ‘Abdallah Ibn Muhammad al-Shubrawi, Kitab al-ithaf bi-hub al-ashraf (Cairo: al-Matba'a al-Adabiya, 1896), 4-5, 83-84, 99-109, Taqiyy al-Din Ahmad Ibn ‘Ali al-Maqrizi, Ma’rifat ma yajib li-al al-bayt al-nabawi min al-haqq ‘ala man ‘adahum, 2e ed. (Cairo: Dar al-I’tisam, 1973), 19-79, Muhammad Ibn ‘Abdal-Rahman al-Sakhawi, Istijlab itriqa' al-ghuraf bi-hub aqriba' al-rasul wa dhawi al-sharaf,2 vols. (Beirut: Dar al-Basha'ir al-Islamiyya, 2000).

18 Another Qur’anic endorsement of the Prophet’s family is found in verse 42: 23; “Say: Noreward do I ask of you (for this) except the love of those near of kin.” Other interpretations ofthis verse refer to Quraysh (the Prophet’s own relatives and tribe) as the Prophet’s near of kin(qurba). See: ‘Abd al-Sabur Shahin and Islah ‘Abd al-Salam al-Rifa'i, Mawsu'at ummahat al-mu'minin: dirasah fi siyarihinna wa-marwiyatihinna (Cairo: al-Zahra' lil-I’lam al-’Arabi, 1991),20-21.

19 This verse appears in almost every place dedicated to Ahl al-bayt, displayed on the walls ofthe shrines, woven into textiles adorning them or inscribed onto their cenotaphs. See for examplethe text inscribed in Kufic characters on the stone cenotaph of Fatima at the cemetery of al-Babal-Saghir. Another text displayed on the wooden cenotaph of Sukayna states her name and verse33:33 along with the Throne Verse. Salah al-Din al-Minajjid, Khitat dimashq. nusus wa dirasat fitarikh dimashq al-topoghrafi wa athariha al-qadima (Beirut: al-Matba'a al-Kathulikiyya, 1949),56-58.

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definition and the exact identity of the Prophet’s family mentioned in thisverse signaled distinctions within the wider scope of the designation “Ahl al-bayt.” By interpreting this verse through “hadith al-kisa’” (tradition of themantle),20 Shi‘i authorities have maintained that the verse refers specifically tofive people: the Prophet Muhammad, his cousin and son in law ‘Ali, hisdaughter Fatima and their two sons, al-Hasan and al-Husayn.21 The five areknown also as ahl al-kisa’ or ahl al-‘aba’a (people of the mantle) in remem-brance of the occasion when the Prophet enveloped them with his mantle andrecited this verse.22 This hadith is also accepted in Sunni circles, but is inter-preted in a way that would also include the wives of the Prophet.23

Various hadiths consider love for Ahl al-bayt a religious duty and enmitytowards them a sin. 24 In a hadith attributed to the Prophet he says: “My Ahlal-bayt are like Noah’s ark, whoever rides in it would be saved and whoeverfails to reach it would perish.” 25 In one version of khutbat al-wada‘ (FarewellSermon), the Prophet reportedly said that God has given two safeguards toMuslims, His Book and the Prophet’s sunna, in other versions of the same tra-dition, the Prophet’s sunna is replaced by: his Ahl bayt or the Prophet’s ‘itra(ahl al-kisa’).26 Needless to say, the authenticity and interpretations of some ofthese traditions were passionately debated among Sunnis and Shi‘is. The dif-ferences in opinion among different sectarian groups concerning the definitionof “Ahl al-bayt” created hierarchies among the various Ahl al-bayt places. 27

Places commemorating the presence of ‘Ali, al-Husayn or any of their de-scendents received greater attention and continuous patronage from Shi‘igroups. In Shi‘i thinking, the Ahl al-bayt are the ultimate source of authorityand the belief in their incomparable qualities forms the core of Shi‘i devotion.In the same time, Sunni Muslims pay tremendous respect to Ahl al-bayt,Sayyids and Ashraf. This Sunni practice, which has certainly increased withtime, might be seen as resonating with the Shi‘i veneration for them.28

20 For different versions of hadith al-kisa’, see: al-Hafiz ‘Imad al-Din Ibn Kathir, Tafsir al-qur'an al-'azim, 7 vols. (Beirut: Dar al-Andalus, 1966), 5: 453-6.

21 EI2, s.v. “Ahl al-Bayt” (I. Goldziher)22 Abi ‘Umar Ahmad Ibn ‘Abd Rabbuh, Kitab al-'Iqd al-farid, 7 vols. (Cairo: Matba'at

Lajnat al-Ta'lif wa-l-Tarjama wa-l-Nashr, 1949-65), 4: 311, Ibn Kathir, Tafsir, 5:456.23 Nur al-Din ‘Ali al-Samhudi, Jawahir al-'iqdayn fi fadl al-sharafayn sharaf al-'ilm al-jaliyy

wa-l-nasab al-nabawi (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyya, 1995), 194-195, Gino Schallenbergh,“Ibn Taymiya on the Ahl al-Bayt,” in Egypt and Syria in the Fatimid, Ayyubid and MamlukEras, ed. U. Vermeulen and J. Van Steenbergen (Leuven: Uitgeverij Peeters, 2001), 407-420.See also: EI2, s.v. “Ahl al-bayt.” (I. Goldziher)

24 See for example: Jalaludin al-Suyuti, Ihya' al-mayyit bi-fada'il ahl al-bayt, ‘alayhim al-salam (Beirut: Dar al-Thaqalayn, 1995), 50-68.

25 al-Samhudi, Jawahir,190-192, al-Suyuti, Ihya' al-mayyit, 72-6.26 Ibn ‘Abd Rabbuh, al-'Iqd,458, f.n. 1, Ibn Kathir, Tafsir, 5:457.27 Shams al-Din Muhammad Ibn Tulun, Qayd al-sharid min akhbar yazid (Cairo: Dar al-

Sahwa, 1986), 61.28 Marshall G. S. Hodgson, “How Did the Early Shi'a Become Sectarian?” Journal of the

American Oriental Society 75, no. 1 (1955): 2-4, Fazlur Rahman, Islam (Chicago: University ofChicago, 1966), 179.

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The places devoted to members of the family of the Prophet in Bilad al-Sham were part of a network of pilgrimage places dedicated to the Prophets,the Companions (al-sahaba), followers or successors (al-tabi‘un), mystics (al-awliya), learned people (al-‘ulama) and the righteous (al-salihun) within Biladal-Sham and in the larger pilgrimage map of the Muslim Near East.29 Most ofthese places were frequented by masses of people over time. Yet the specialfadl (merit) of visiting the Ahl al-bayt endowed their places with a specialstanding on the pilgrimage routes. Performing ziyara to the tombs of Ahl al-bayt was considered by some authorities an accepted alternative for those whodid not have the opportunity to visit the Prophet’s tomb in Medina. Accordingto a tradition related by Ibn ‘Uthman (d. 1218-9), a man who went on the hajj,and was prevented from visiting the Prophet’s tomb, saw the Prophet in adream urging him to visit the tomb of Tabataba – one of al-Ashraf whose tombwas in Cairo. 30 In another version of the same tradition, the Prophet reportedlysaid “He who wanted to visit me and could not, should visit the tomb of myson Muhammad” (another sharif descendent of al-Husayn, whose tomb was atthe outskirts of Damascus).31 Various Shi‘i traditions assert that a ziyara to al-Husayn’s tomb is equal to one, or to several, pilgrimages to Mecca. Indeed,performing ziyara to the Ahl al-bayt was, and still is, considered by many asort of maintaining a close family relationship “silat rahim” with theProphet.32

Medieval sources, particularly works of fada’il and ziyara literature, list thepresence of Ahl al-bayt along other holy figures within the cities of Bilad al-Sham and the merit their presence confer upon these cities. Many cities withinBilad al-Sham claimed the honor of housing the head of al-Husayn after histragic murder in the battle of Karbala. Fada’il literature tell us that when al-Husayn was murdered “blood was found under every stone in Jerusalem.”33

Ibn Abi al-Hawl al-Rab'i (d. 444/1052-3) reported that Hafsa Bint ‘Umar andUmm Habiba, both wives of the Prophet died in Damascus and were buriedthere.34 Damascus, like other major cities of the Muslim Near East, claimed

29 For a survey of the Damascene pilgrimage places, see: Janine Sourdel-Thomine, “Lesanciens lieux de pèlerinage damascains d'après les sources arabes,” Bulletin d'études orientales14 (1954): 65-85.

30 'Abd al-Rahman Muwafaq al-Din Ibn ‘Uthman, Murshid al-zuwwar ila qubur al-abrar, al-musamma, al-durr al-munazzam fi ziyarat al-jabal al-muqattam, 2 vols. (Cairo: al-Dar al-Misriyah al-Lubnaniyah, 1995), 1: 242.

31 'Izz al-Din Muhammad Ibn ‘Ali Ibn Shaddad, al-A’laq al-khatirah fi dhikr umara' al-shamwa-l-jazirah. Tarikh madinat dimashq, 2 vols., vol. 1 (Damascus: al-Ma’had al-Firinsi lil-Dirasatal-'Arabiyya bi-Dimashq, 1956), 186.

32 al-Shubrawi, Ithaf,93, Abi'l Qasim Ja'far Ibn Muhammad Ibn Qulawiya al-Qummi, Kamilal-ziyarat (Beirut: Dar al-Surur, 1997), 290-307.

33 Abu Bakr Muhammad Ibn Ahmad al-Wasiti, Fada'il al-bayt al-muqaddas (Jerusalem: TheMagnes Press, 1979), 55, Sihab al-Din Ibn Tamim al-Maqdisi, Muthir al-gharam ila ziyarat al-quds wa-l-sham (Beirut: Dar al-Jil, 1994), 181-182.

34 Ibn Abi al-Hawl al-Rab'i, Fada'il al- sham wa fadl dimashq (Beirut: 2001), 86.

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the honor of possessing tombs and other places related to the presence of Ahlal-bayt and other venerated figures, regardless of the fact that several citiesmay claim to be the burial place of the same individual.

One of the earliest places that came to be associated with Ahl al-bayt inDamascus is the Great Mosque. A number of places marked at the eastern sideof this mosque commemorated ‘Ali Ibn Abi Talib, his son al-Husayn and hisgrand son, ‘Ali Zayn al-‘Abidin. ‘Ali’s shrine was a vision shrine; it was builtin response to a vision in which ‘Ali was seen praying in this place.35 Theshrine of al-Husayn at the Umayyad mosque was reportedly built to mark theplace where the head of al-Husayn was placed when it was brought to Damas-cus, hence it was known as mashhad al-ra’s (the shrine of the head).36 Theshrine commemorating his son, ‘Ali Zayn al-‘Abidin, apparently marked aplace where he reportedly used to pray.37 These mashhads for ‘Ali, al-Husaynand Zayn al-‘Abidin were counted among the many places of virtue locatedwithin the Umayyad mosque, such as the maqsura of the Companions andzawiya of al-Khidr, the head of Yahya Ibn Zakariya (St. John the Baptist) andthe Qur’an of ‘Uthman.38 Some reports also mention the tomb of the ProphetHud in the southern wall of the mosque.39 The treasury dome (qubbat bayt al-mal) at the western end of the mosque’s courtyard was named the dome of‘A’isha (the Prophet’s wife) and a smaller dome beside it carried the name ofZayn al-‘Abidin.40

The cemetery of al-Bab al-Saghir (Small Gate) was another popular visita-tion place in Damascus frequented for its tombs of Ahl al-bayt and other re-vered figures. South of al-Bab al-Saghir, close to the tombs of the Prophet’sCompanions Bilal Ibn Hamama and Ka‘b al-Ahbar, were the tombs of three ofthe Prophet’s wives, the tomb of Fadda, the slave girl of Fatima and that ofUmm al-Hasan, daughter of Hamza, son of Ja‘far al-Sadiq and the tomb of‘Ali, son of ‘Abdallah Ibn al-‘Abbas, and his son Salman or Sulayman, and hiswife, Umm al-Hasan, daughter of Ja‘far, son of al-Hasan, son of al-Husayn,son of ‘Ali Ibn Abi Talib, and the tomb of Khadija, daughter of Zayn al-‘Abidin, and that of Sukayna, daughter of al-Husayn and the tomb of

35 Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Ibn al-Jubayr, Rihlat ibn al-jubayr (Beirut: Dar Sadir lil-Tiba'ahwa-l-Nashr, 1964), 241.

36 al-Hafiz ‘Ali Ibn al-Hasan Ibn ‘Asakir, Tarikh madinat dimashq wa dhikr fadlaha watasmiyat man hallaha min al-amathil aw ijtaza bi-nawahiha min waridiha wa ahlaha (Damas-cus: al-Majma' al-'Ilmi al-'Arabi, 1951-1995), 2/1: 72, Ibn Shaddad, al-A’laq al-khatirah, 118,127.

37 'Abd al-Rahman Ibn Ibrahim Ibn ‘Abd al-Razzaq al-Dimashqi, Hada'iq al-anam fi fada'ilal-sham (Bierut: Dar al-Diya', 1989), 112.

38 Ahmad Ibn Muhammad Ibn al-Faqih al-Hamadhani, Kitab al-buldan (Beirut: ‘Alam al-Kutub, 1996), 158.

39 Ibn ‘Abd al-Hadi, Thimar al-maqasid, 165-6.40 Ibn al-Jubayr, Rihla,241-242, Ibn Battuta, Rihlat Ibn Battuta (Beirut: Dar Sadir lil-Tiba’ah

wa-al-Nashr, 1964), 89-91, Ibn ‘Abd al-Razzaq al-Dimashqi, Hada'iq, 118, Yaqut al-Hamawi,Mu'jam al-buldan, 7 vols. (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-’Ilmiyah, 1990), 2: 533-534.

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Muhammad son of ‘Umar, son of ‘Ali Ibn Abi Talib.41 Beside those famoustombs of the wives of the Prophet and several of his family mentioned in thesources, several tombstones provide evidence of many ‘Alids’ burials at al-Bab al-Saghir Cemetery.42

In the village of Rawiya south of Damascus was the mashhad of UmmKulthum, a member of Ahl al-bayt, and the tombs of Mudrik and Kannaz, bothfrom among the Companions.43 The exact identity and genealogy of this UmmKulthum, whose name may have originally been Zaynab, was disputed.44 Ibnal-Jubayr and later Ibn Battuta mention a great mosque at her tomb and someresidences around it. They also mention that it had endowments and that thepeople of Damascus called it the tomb of the lady Umm Kulthum (qabr al-sittUmm Kulthum).45 Damascus also housed another shrine for ‘Ali, known asmashhad al-Naranj (named after its garden of orange trees) visited by Ibn al-Jubayr in the 6th/12th century.46 Another mashhad attributed to ‘Ali Ibn AbiTalib, now disappeared,47 was located near a spring known as ‘Ayn al-Baqarin ‘Akka.48

In Aleppo, a city popularly perceived to be linked to the Prophet Ibrahim,several shrines were dedicated to ‘Ali and al-Husayn. At Bab al-Jinan therewas a vision shrine for ‘Ali and inside Masjid Ghawth at Bab al-‘Iraq therewas an inscribed stone, said to be in ‘Ali’s hand.49 To the west of the city atmount Jawshan is Mashhad al-Dikka, with the tomb of al-Muhsin, a stillbornson of al-Husayn. The genealogy of this son of al-Husayn is unclear. However,al-Quda‘i (d. 454/1062) mentions a stillborn son of ‘Ali Ibn Abi Talib andFatima named Muhsin.50 Another shrine dedicated to al-Husayn is located in

41 Ibn ‘Asakir, Tarikh madinat dimashq,2/1: 80, 196-199, al-Harawi, al-Isharat, 13, al-QadiMahmud Ibn Muhammad al-'Adawi, Kitab al-ziyarat bi dimashq (Damascus: 1956), 23-25, IbnShaddad, al-A’laq al-khatirah,184-185, Ibn ‘Abd al-Razzaq al-Dimashqi, Hada'iq, 155, Yaqutal-Hamawi, Mu'jam al-buldan,2:533-4.

42 Khalid Moaz and Solange Ory, Inscriptions Arabes de Damas. Les stèles funéraires. I.Cimetière d' al-Bab al-Saghir (Damascus: Institut Français de Damas, 1977), 84-5.

43 al-Harawi, al-Isharat,12, Ibn Shaddad, al-A’laq al-khatirah, 182-183.44 Ibn ‘Asakir, Tarikh madinat dimashq,2/1: 80. The village of Rawiya was later known as

Qabr al-Sitt (the lady’s tomb). That same village, known today as Sitt Zaynab, is now an activetourist zone with hotels and markets attending to the shrine visitors’ needs.

45 Ibn al-Jubayr, Rihla,253, Ibn Battuta, Rihla,99, Ibn ‘Abd al-Razzaq al-Dimashqi, Hada'iq,141, 147.

46 al-Harawi, al-Isharat,13, Sourdel-Thomine, “Lieux de pèlerinage,” 76, f.n. 5, Ibn al-Jubayr, Rihla, 252.

47 'Abdallah Mukhlis, “Mashahid Al al-bayt al-atyab fi filastin,” al-Mawsim 1, no. 4 (1989):1083.

48 al-Harawi, al-Isharat,22, ‘Izz al-Din Muhammad Ibn ‘Ali Ibn Shaddad, al-A’laq al-khatirah fi dhikr umara' al-sham wa-l-jazirah. Tarikh lubnan wa-l-urdun wa filastin, 2 vols.,vol. 2 (Damascus: al-Ma’had al-Firinsi lil-Dirasat al-'Arabiyya bi-Dimashq, 1962), 284-285,‘Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi, al-Haqiqa wa-l-majaz fi al-rihla ila bilad al-sham wa misr wa-l-hijaz(Cairo: al-Hay'a al-Misriyya al-'Amma lil-Kitab, 1986), 99.

49 al-Harawi, al-Isharat,450 Abi ‘Aballah Muhammad Ibn Salama al-Quda'i, Kitab al-inba' bi-anba' al-anbiya' wa

tawarikh al-khulafa' wa wilayat al-'umara' (tarikh al-quda'i) (Beirut: al-Maktaba al-'Asriyya,1998), 137-8, al-Sakhawi, Istijlab, 1:253.

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the same side of the city, also at mount Jawshan. Mashhad al-Husayn houses arock, said to be from Karbala, which bears a blood drop of al-Husayn, suppos-edly shed during the historic battle.51 al-Harawi mentions another vision shrinefor ‘Ali at Hims, it had a column stamped with his finger. He also mentionstombs there for the sons of Ja‘far Ibn Abi Talib al-Tayyar, the brother of‘Ali.52 The Sufi traveler ‘Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi (d. 1143/1731) visited thesetombs during the trip that he took between 1105-6/1693-4. He noted that thesons of Ja‘far al-Tayyar were buried inside a large mazar under an archeddome (qubba ma‘quda). He specifically named them: ‘Abdallah and ‘Abd al-Rahman, they were both buried in one big tomb. A number of Ashraf werealso buried at Hims.53

Outside Hims was another domed shrine for al-Hasan and al-Husayn.54 Atthe village of al-Nabak, between Damascus and Hims, al-Nabulsi visited amaqam for Fatima al-Zahra’, daughter of the Prophet. It was a small visionshrine.55 At Ba‘albak was a tomb for Hafsa, wife of the Prophet. However, al-Harawi (d. 611/1214) reminds us that this was probably Umm Hafs, sister ofMu‘adh Ibn Jabal (one of the Companions), since Hafsa died in Medina.56 Atthe villages of al-Tur and Mu’ta57 were the shrines of Ja‘far al-Tayyar andother Companions.58 Ja‘far Ibn Abi Talib, the brother of ‘Ali Ibn Abi Talib andcousin of the Prophet, was the commander of the battle of al-Mu’ta, where hewas killed in 8/629.59 Remains of a Mamluk shrine with late Ottoman addi-tions were recently uncovered at the site. Nearby, at the small town of al-Mazar, a large mosque shrine was rebuilt for Ja‘far al-Tayyar in the early1930s.60

51 These two important Aleppine shrines are still functioning. Jean Sauvaget, Inventaire desmonuments musulmans de la ville d'Alep. Extrait de la Revue des Études Islamiques année 1931(Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner, 1931), 79, no. 20, Yasser Tabbaa, Constructions ofPower and Piety in Medieval Aleppo (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press,1997), 108-121.

52 al-Harawi, al-Isharat, 8-9.53 Yaqut al-Hamawi, Kitab Mu'jam al-buldan, 10 vols. (Cairo: Matba'at al-Sa'ada, 1906), 3:

340, al-Nabulsi, al-Haqiqa wa-l-majaz, 35.54 al-Nabulsi, al-Haqiqa wa-l-majaz, 53.55 Ibid., 29.56 al-Harawi, al-Isharat, 9, Ibn Shaddad, al-A’laq al-khatirah, 269.57 al-Tur was the name of a mountain overlooking the lake of Tabariyya al-Urdun, while

Mu’ta was a village at the borders of al-Sham, south of al-Kark. Yaqut al-Hamawi, Mu'jam al-buldan, 6:67; 8: 190. Both villages are located today in Jordan.

58 al-Harawi, al-Isharat,19, Ibn Shaddad, al-A’laq al-khatirah, 68, 277.59 Abi'l Fadl Ahmad Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani, al-Isaba fi tamyiz al-sahaba. Wa-bi-dhaylihi

Kitab al-Isti'ab fi ma'rifat al-aÒÌab, li-Abi ‘Umar Yusuf ibn ‘Abdallah ibn Muhhammad ibn ‘Abdal-Barr, 13 vols. (Cairo: Maktabat al-kuliyyat al-azhariyya, 1969-1977), 2: 85-87, Abu'l Farajal-Isfahani, Maqatil al-talibiyin (Beirut: Dar al-Ma'rifa, 1978), 10-18.

60 Both shrines, at al-Mu’ta and al-Mazar, were renovated in 1972-3. “Min al-'atabat al-muqaddasa fi al-mamlaka al-urduniya al-hashimiya: mashhad Ja'far Ibn Abi Talib,” al-Mawsim1, no. 4 (1989): 1064-1071, “al-Athar al-islamiyya fi baldatayy mu'ta wa-l-mazar,” al-Mawsim1, no. 4 (1989): 1072-1075.

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At zahir Tabariyya (outskirts of Tiberias), there stood a mashhad forSukayna, daughter of al-Husayn, and a tomb, said to be that of ‘Abdallah Ibnal-‘Abbas, son of ‘Ali Ibn Abi Talib.61 At al-Ramla, a city between Jerusalemand Jafa, two Ahl al-bayt shrines and a waqf in the name of ‘Ali still exist tothis day.62 In the late 17th century, al-Nabulsi visited a shrine there for al-FadlIbn ‘Abbas, brother of ‘Abdallah Ibn ‘Abbas, the Prophet’s uncle.63 al-Harawimentioned a tomb for Hashim Ibn ‘Abd Manaf, grandfather of the Prophet atGaza.64 This tomb was in a cave, said to be connected to the cave of theProphet Ibrahim.65

Finally, at ‘Asqalan, a shrine marked the presence of the head of al-Husayn.The head was reportedly moved from Damascus to ‘Asqalan and later theFatimids, who feared that the head of al-Husayn might be desecrated by theFranks, removed it from ‘Asqalan to al-Qahira.66 A minbar with epigraphicinscriptions made for the shrine of al-Husayn at ‘Asqalan and later moved toal-Haram al-Ibrahimi in al-Khalil indicate that a Fatimid shrine existed there in484/1091-2.67 This brief recounting of the shrine places dedicated to Ahl al-bayt within Bilad al-Sham is intended to show their large number, not only inDamascus, but in the broader Bilad al-Sham region. It is not my intention hereto provide a complete list of the Ahl al-bayt shrine places; however, it is re-markable to note both the proliferation and continuity of such shrines in thesacred geography of Bilad al-Sham.

The making of the Ahl al-bayt shrines: Narratives that work

One interesting and revealing aspect of the Ahl al-bayt shrines is how narra-tive was used and manipulated in the processes of their formation and transfor-mation. The term narrative used here encompasses the expected range of oraland written accounts of connected events. It includes the accounts of manaqib

61 Yaqut al-Hamawi, Mu'jam al-buldan, 6:26, al-Harawi, al-Isharat,19, Ibn Shaddad, al-A’laq al-khatirah,281. The shrine dedicated to Sukayna dates to the late 7th/13th century and cur-rently stands in a ruined state. See: V. Bernie, M. Milwright, and E.J. Simpson, “An Architec-tural Survey of Muslim Buildings in Tiberias,” Levant 24 (1992): 95-103, figs. 1-13.

62 Mukhlis, “Mashahid Al al-bayt,” 1082, 1088.63 al-Nabulsi, al-Haqiqa wa-l-majaz, 140.64 al-Harawi, al-Isharat, 33.65 al-Nabulsi, al-Haqiqa wa-l-majaz, 154.66 In 516/1122 two lamps (qandils), one made of the silver and the other made of gold, were

sent to the mashhad of al-Husayn at ‘Asqalan. Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Ibn Iyas, Bada'i’ al-zuhurfi waqa'i’ al-duhur, 5 vols. (Cairo: Dar Ihya' al-Kutub al-'Arabiyya, 1960-3), 1/1: 227. Taqiyyal-Din Ahmad Ibn ‘Ali al-Maqrizi, Itti’az al-hunafa bi-akhbar al-a'immah al-fatimiyin al-khulafa, 3 v. vols. (Cairo: al-Majlis al-A’la lil-Shu'un al-Islamiyah, 1967), 3: 85-86.

67 Gaston Wiet, “Notes d'épigraphie syro-musulmane,” Syria 5 (1924): 217-228. Su'adMahir Muhammad, Mukhallafat al-rasul fi al-masjid al-husayni (Cairo: Dar wa-Matabi' al-Sha'b, 1965), 41.

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(virtues) and karamat (extraordinary events attributed to the power of sanctity)of Ahl al-bayt, the sets of specific du‘a’s (prayers) to be said at each place andthe lengthy accounts of the genealogies and hagiographic compositions dedi-cated to Ahl al-bayt, and which distinctively related them to a specific place.68

These narratives were used and reused over time to identify and verify the Ahlal-bayt places, and to maintain the performance of ziyara to their shrines.

Today, these narratives are often printed on paper and framed; sometimesthey are inscribed on brass plaques, and displayed on the walls of the shrinesin places where the visitor can see them, or are compiled in books or small,pocket-size brochures and sold at the shrines. 69 In Damascus, where most ofthe visitors to Ahl al-bayt are now Iranians, language plays a role. There, thenarrative is displayed in texts written in both Arabic and Persian. During medi-eval times, such narratives were to be found mainly in the ziyara manuals. Theziyara manuals, often written as an act of devotion, were guide books meantfor the use of pilgrims and visitors in order to provide them with establishedziyara itineraries and the specific set of prayers to be recited at each shrine.These ziyara manuals included the Ahl al-bayt shrines along with those ofother holy and righteous figures.70 These guide books often gave specific di-rections and mentioned distances between places. But most importantly, thesebooks offered the visitor detailed genealogical and hagiographic accountsabout Ahl al-bayt and thorough descriptions of the ethics and benefits of visit-ing them. 71

Oral and written accounts of connected events were also used as a reasonfor the continuous building activities for the Ahl al-bayt at specific places. Dif-ferent narratives placed the burial places of al-Husayn’s head, Zayn al-‘Abidin, Zaynab and others at different cities. Each one of these burial placesemphasized one narrative of the past at the expense of others.72 Writtensources, on the basis of the prevalent consensus and oral tradition, contend and

68 For an example of the set of prayers specifically written for ziyara to Sayyida Zaynab, see:Muhammad al-Husayn al-Adib, Zaynab ukht al-husayn (Najaf: al-Matba'a al-Haydariyya, 1970),65-72.

69 For an English translation of one of these pamphlets on al-Sayyida Zaynab, sold near theshrine of al-Husayn in Cairo, see: Muhammad Abd al-Wahab, “Sayyida Zaynab: The Chosen ofBani Hashim,” in Everyday Life in the Muslim Middle East, ed. Donna Lee Bowen and Evelyn AEarly (Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1993), 230-3.

70 For a complete list of these ziyara manuals, see: Yusuf Raghib, “Essai d'inventairechronologique des guides a l'usage des pèlerins du Caire,” Revue des Études Islamiques 41, no. 2(1973): 259-280.

71 The earliest known ziyara manual for Greater Syria, dating to the mid 10th/16th century, isIbn al-Hawrani’s “al-Isharat ila amakin al-ziyarat.” It lists mainly the pilgrimage places of Da-mascus and its environs. Ibn al-Hawrani, Kitab ziyarat al-sham al-musamma al-isharat ilaamakin al-ziyarat (Damascus: al-Matba'a al-'Ilmiyya, 1998), Josef W. Meri, “A Late MedievalSyrian Pilgrimage Guide: Ibn al-Hawrani's al-Isharat Ila Amakin al-Ziyarat (Guide to PilgrimagePlaces),” Medieval Encounters 7, no. 1 (2001): 3-78.

72 Nelson and Olin, Monuments and Memory, 2.

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sometimes dispute the fact that certain shrines contain actual physical remainsof the Ahl al-bayt. Mashahid al-ru’ya (vision shrines) were built on the basisof narrative. These vision shrines were built on the instructions of a holy figureseen in a dream or a vision revealing an unknown burial place of Ahl al-bayt.However, not all vision shrines marked burial places. Some marked the sites ofevents attributed to Ahl al-bayt. Ibn al-Jubayr, who visited the shrine of ‘AliIbn Abi Talib at the Umayyad mosque of Damascus in the 6th/12th century, re-marked that it was built because “the Shi‘a alleged that ‘Ali was seen in adream praying in this particular place.”73 This alleged appearance of ‘Ali in avision relating him to a specific site was a recurrent theme in medievalsources. In one of these visions, ‘Ali appears talking to the caretaker (qayyim)of a church built by the Franks over the site of his shrine in ‘Akka. In thedream, he tells the caretaker to “tell them to return this place (mawdi‘) into amosque (masjid), or whoever resides there would perish.” The caretaker deliv-ered the message, but no one believed him. The next day he was found deadand the church was returned to the Muslims and rebuilt into a mosque with‘Ali’s name. 74

Ibn al-Jubayr’s statement concerning the raison d’être of another shrinebuilt for ‘Ali in Damascus, mashhad al-Naranj, shows how the dynamics ofthe making of a shrine might have worked:

“One of the most sumptuous shrines is a mashhad attributed to ‘Ali Ibn AbiTalib. A lavish mosque was built upon it, near it is an orange garden and water ispumped to it from a special cistern. The mosque is completely adorned with longcurtains. A massive fractured rock is placed at the mihrab. The Shi‘a allege thatthe rock was broken by ‘Ali, probably hit by his sword. ‘Ali is known to havenever been to this city, unless they alleged his appearance in a vision. This stonewas the reason behind the building of this mashhad.”75

Ibn al-Jubayr’s aggravated comments about the reasoning behind the mak-ing of this shrine reveal how narrative was used to justify the building of suchshrines. In this case, the narrative was tied to the presence of the fracturedrock; both aspects substantiated one another and contributed to the making ofa shrine for ‘Ali. The display of narrative in or outside the Ahl al-bayt shrineswas an important factor for verifying the truthfulness of these places. Asmeans of authentication, most of the texts displayed at the shrines were pre-ceded with the complete chain of transmission (isnad), using the same methoddeveloped by hadith scholars. al-Harawi, who visited the tomb of MuhammadIbn ‘Abdallah Ibn al-Husayn Ibn Ahmad Ibn Isma‘il Ibn Ja‘far al-Sadiq out-side Damascus, recorded the text that he saw displayed on the tomb. After along chain of isnad, al-Harawi noted that the text revealed that a certainSheikh saw the Prophet standing to the north of this ruined dome, encouraging

73 Ibn al-Jubayr, Rihla, 241.74 Ibn Shaddad, al-A’laq al-khatirah, 284-285, al-Nabulsi, al-Haqiqa wa-l-majaz, 99.75 Ibn al-Jubayr, Rihla, 252.

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those who could not visit him to visit this tomb.76 The display of such narra-tives, substantiated by the chain of isnad, was often considered a solid proof ofthe authenticity of the places that marked a presence of Ahl al-bayt.

Another incident reported in the sources reveals how narrative was con-sciously manipulated in the process of making certain shrines for Ahl al-bayt.Ibn Tulun al-Salihi (d. 953/1546), a conservative Sunni, suspicious of Shi‘iveneration of Ahl al-bayt, reports that in 636/1238-9 someone claimed seeinga vision that revealed the burial place of a certain “Sitt Malaka” from Ahl al-bayt at one of the gates of Bab Jayrun in Damascus. Soon after this vision wasannounced, the gate of Bab Jayrun was blocked and a mosque was built. Thismosque, which had an empty tomb, had an inscription on its door lintel statinga ‘forged’ genealogy for this “Sitt Malaka.” Ibn Tulun, who investigated theauthenticity of this claim, remarked that this “dreadful innovation” was initi-ated by a beggar who used to sit at Bab Jayrun. Ibn Tulun claimed that thebeggar made up this story to attract attention when he failed to get any charityfrom people passing by the gate. The mosque with the empty tomb continuedto exist for more than a century when it was finally destroyed by a fire. Theinscription on the door lintel, however, survived the fire. Several attemptswere made to rebuild the mosque until this inscription was finally removed atthe orders of the Mamluk sultan al-Ashraf Qaytbay. It was replaced by anotherinscription announcing the ‘truth’ about the place and refuting the claims ofthe previous inscription. 77 The continuing display of the narrative in this in-scription continued to provoke attempts to reconstruct the shrine, when thenarrative was removed, practice came to a halt and the shrine ceased to exist.The story of Sitt Malaka at Bab Jayrun, like many other stories reported inmedieval sources, shows how such places were made, remade and unmadethrough the use of narrative.

The remaking of the Ahl al-bayt shrines

The history of the physical structures of the Ahl al-bayt shrines is quite dif-ficult to disentangle from the narratives that have surrounded them. Despitethe many accounts of the presence of Ahl al-bayt or their relics in Bilad al-Sham, records of the shrines’ architecture and physical form in most medievalArabic texts are scarce and nonspecific. However, it is clear from these textsthat buildings were constructed above such places as early as the mid 4th/10th

century. Sayf al-Dawla, the Shi‘i Hamdanid ruler of Aleppo, built a shrineover the tomb of a stillborn son of al-Husayn, al-Muhsin, in 351/962.78 Con-

76 al-Harawi, al-Isharat, 14, Ibn Shaddad, al-A’laq al-khatirah, 186.77 Shams al-Din Muhammad Ibn Tulun, Qurrat al-'uyun fi akhbar bab jayrun (Damascus: al-

Majma' al-'Ilmi al-'Arabi, 1964), 10-23.78 The earliest extant part of Mashhad al-Muhsin, also known as mashhad al-Dikka, dates

back to the Zangid period (mid 6th/12th century). Sauvaget, Inventaire, 74, no. 14, pl. V, Tabbaa,Constructions of power and piety, 109-110.

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tinual repairs show that successive generations of patrons – both Shi‘i andSunni – recognized the importance of these places. Shi‘i doctrine encouragesspending money to build and repair the tombs and shrines, especially those ofAhl al-bayt and the Imams.79 While Shi‘i rulers, such as the Hamdanids andFatimids, have obviously been important patrons of the Ahl al-bayt shrines inBliad al-Sham, Sunni rulers have also stressed their own spiritual authoritythrough direct acts of patronage to these shrines. In 450/1058 a dome bearingthe name of the Fatimid caliph al-Mustansir was built at the entrance to theshrine of ‘Ali at the east side of the court of the Great Mosque of Damascus.80

By the mid-7th/13th century, this shrine must have become fairly large in size –large enough to accommodate the newly installed Abbasid caliph, al-Mustansir-billah (d. 660/1262), together with the Mamluk sultan of Egypt (al-Zahir Baybars) and the governors of al-Musil, Sanjar and al-Jazira, who allstayed at this shrine of ‘Ali for days while visiting Damascus.81 The choicemade by this group of Sunni rulers to take residence inside this particularshrine is indicative of the significance of the Ahl al-bayt shrines for them.

Today, most of the Ahl al-bayt shrines in Syria are identified as Shi‘i,mainly frequented by pilgrims from Iran and by other Shi‘i groups – in Medi-eval and early modern times, however, they were viewed in different sectarianterms. The Ottomans, who carried out several building projects related to reli-gious practice in Damascus, demonstrated their understanding of the impor-tance of the Ahl al-bayt shrines.82 Revenues from a waqf in the name of theOttoman sultan Silim Khan were used to purchase candles to illuminate theshrine of al-Husayn at the Umayyad mosque in the early 1900s.83 In 1278/1861-62, when this shrine was in ruins, the governor of Damascus, al-wazirFu’ad Pasha, asked the Ottoman sultan ‘Abd al-‘Aziz for permission to restoreit and to transform the house next to it into a tikiyya (charitable establishment),where food would be served to its visitors everyday after ‘asr (afternoon)prayer. The Ottoman sultan ordered the restoration project and later sent a hairfrom the relics of the Prophet to be kept inside the maqam. A celebration was

79 Yitzhak Nakash, “The Visitation of the Shrines of the Imams and the Shi'i Mujtahids in theEarly Twentieth Century,” Studia Islamica 81 (1995): 158-162.

80 al-Maqrizi, Itti’az, 2:255.81 Jamal al-Din Abi'l Mahasin Yusuf Ibn Taghribirdi, al-Manhal al-safi wa-l-mustawfi ba’d

al-wafi, 10 vols. (Cairo: al-Hayy'a al-Misriyya al-’Amma lil-Kitab, 1984-2003), 2: 77.82 Muhammad al-Arna'ut, Mu'tayat ‘an dimashq wa bilad al-sham al-janubiya fi nihayat al-

qarn al-sadis ‘ashar: waqfiyat sinan basha (Damascus: 1993), 7-8, Heghnar Zeitlian Waten-paugh, The Image of an Ottoman City. Imperial Architecture and Urban Experience in Aleppo inthe 16th and 18th centuries, ed. Suraiya Farouqhi and Halil Inalcik, The Ottoman Empire and itsHeritage. Politics, Society and Economy (Leiden. Boston: Brill, 2004), 236.

83 Bassam ‘Abd al-Wahhab al-Jabi, Mizaniyat al-jami' al-umawi li sanat 1326/1908 (Am-man: Manshurat Lajnat Tarikh Bilad al-Sham, 1992), 68. Several other waqfs were also desig-nated by the Ottomans to purchase oil for the lamps and to provide rosewater for the visitors ofthe tomb of St. John the Bapitst at the Umayyad mosque. Ibn ‘Abd al-Razzaq al-Dimashqi,Hada'iq, 121.

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held there on the occasion of displaying that relic for public viewing onceevery year on the 27th night of Ramadan, after tarawih prayer. Verses of po-etry, referring to this pious act of restoring the damaged shrine (qubba) of al-Husayn and his son, were framed and displayed on the walls. 84 The shrine ofal-Husayn at the Umayyad mosque was being transformed under Ottoman pa-tronage to a place of Sunni ritual. The sources do not give us much informa-tion about the practices and use of al-Husayn’s shrine space under Shi‘i pa-tronage. However, accounts of activities that took place in and near anothershrine for al-Husayn in Cairo during the time of the Fatimids give us an ideaabout the Shi‘i use of the shrine’s space, from which we can draw parallelswith Damascus.85

An earlier account reported by Ibn Shaddad gives more evidence of howthese places were transformed under Sunni patronage into spaces of Sunni pi-ety and ritual. One night in the year 668/1269-1270, the Mamluk sultan en-tered the shrine of Zayn al-‘Abidin at the Great Mosque of Damascus in dis-guise. He saw people sleeping inside it and others up worshipping (performingqiyam). The sultan ordered a charity “sadaqa sunniyya” for those who wereperforming qiyam, and prohibited the rest from residing inside the shrine. Eachone of those worshippers living inside the shrine had his own designated place(mawdi‘) that he had taken up for himself. Each of these places was marked bya screen (maqsura) and each one of those worshippers put a chest (sunduq)inside his private space to receive charity money. Ibn Shaddad noted that theshrine looked like a small caravansary (khan).86

Unlike the many accounts in pilgrimage guide books which deal with ques-tions of location and holiness, this one by Ibn Shaddad is a straightforwarddescription of the arrangement of the shrine’s space. It is clear from this ac-count that the shrine of Zayn al-‘Abidin at the eastern side of the Umayyadmosque looked significantly different from its form today. It must have beenfairly large in size, with sufficient space for the several enclosures that markedthe individual spaces of worshippers inside it. The focus of the shrine spacewas not the tomb of Zayn al-‘Abidin, but rather the several individual spacesoccupied by worshippers, that made it look more like a caravansary for IbnShaddad.

Acting as an important symbol for religious and political authority, the Ahlal-bayt shrines in Syria were recently contested by competing political and

84 Ahmad Taymur, al-'Athar al-nabawiyya (Cairo: Matabi’ Dar al-Kitab al-’Arabi, 1955), 81.85 The Fatimid official celebration of ‘Ashura (the 10th of Muharram, date of the murder of al-

Husayn at Karbala) was moved from the mosque of al-Azhar to the shrine of al-Husayn shortlyafter it had been built. The procession on the day of Ghadir Khum, another important Shi‘i cel-ebration, was also shifted from the parade ground between the two palaces to al-Husayn in 549/1154. Taqiyy al-Din Ahmad Ibn ‘Ali al-Maqrizi, Kitab al-mawa’iz wa-al-i’tibar bi-dhikr al-khitat wa-al-athar, Bulaq ed., 2 vols. (Cairo: Dar al-Tiba’ah al-Misriyah, 1853), 1: 430-432,Paula Sanders, Ritual, Politics and the City in Fatimid Cairo (Albany: SUNY Press, 1994), 131.

86 Ibn Shaddad, al-A’laq al-khatirah, 79-80.

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spiritual powers. In the early 1980s, the government of the Islamic Republic ofIran started financing a series of projects to establish pilgrimage complexesdedicated to Ahl al-bayt and some of the Companions of the Prophet in Syria.The administration, physical form and rituals established at these new com-plexes were made in such a way that would resonate with Imami Shi‘is. Theappropriation and transformation of these shrines has allowed the Iranian stateto widen the territory of Imami Shi‘i pilgrimage into Syria replacing those pil-grimage sites in Iraq and Saudi Arabia which were not easily accessible to Ira-nians.87 The Iranian interventions at the Ahl al-bayt places have completelyaltered the physical structures of some of these shrines, linking them visuallyto other shrines outside Syria also supported by Iran.88

The shrine of Sayyida Ruqayya in Old Damascus is a case in point. In theearly 1980s, unofficial delegations were sent from Iran to the site of al-Sayyida Ruqayya at the neighborhood of al-‘Imara al-juwwaniyya to negotiatebuying land and property from the residents around the tomb. The rebuildingand enlargement of Sayyida Ruqayya in Old Damascus was fully and directlyfinanced by the Iranian government, in cooperation with the Syrian Ministry ofAwqaf and amid voices of concern from the Syrian Department of Antiquitiesand Syrian residents of al-‘Imara al-juwwaniyya neighborhood. Correspond-ences between the Syrian Department of Antiquities and Museums and theAwqaf Ministry in the early 1980s show that a heated debate had erupted overthe legality of the Iranian intervention at Sayyida Ruqayya.

The Antiquities Department charged that these activities were in violationof Syrian law since this area is considered part of “Old Damascus,” wheredemolition and construction activities are prohibited.89 The Iranians had ex-pressed their desire to undertake the project of rebuilding Ruqayya as early as1975. In a visit to the Antiquities and Museums Department, the culturalattaché of the Iranian embassy in Damascus talked about the funds availablefor the project raised by Iranian non governmental groups. The Iranians wereready to fund other projects to renovate tombs of great characters of Islamichistory, and not just Ahl al-bayt and Shi‘i scholars. Houses and shops were

87 Sabrina Mervin, “Sayyida Zaynab: Banieue de Damas ou nouvelle ville sainte chiite?”Cahiers d'études sur la Méditerranée orientale et le monde Turco-Iranien 22 (1996): 153-157,Myriam Ababsa, “Les mausolées invisibles: Raqqa, ville de pèlerinage chiite ou pôle étatique enJazîra syrienne?” Annales Géographie 110, no. 622 (2001): 645-654.

88 The visual link is probably most obvious in the shrines of ‘Ali in Najaf and al-Husayn inKarbala.

89 On the 24th of January, 1983 the Director of the Antiquities and Museums Departmentwrote to the Ministry of Religious Endowments (al-Awqaf) warning of the activities of an Iraniangroup in the urban area neighboring the maqam of Sayyida Ruqayya. “The Iranians were buyinghouses and shops from residents and had already started to pull buildings down with the intentionof expanding the maqam,” the letter said. “This was in collaboration with officials from al-Awqaf which was a clear violation of the Syrian law.” Records of Mudiriyyat al-mabani al-athariyya, Damascus.

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evacuated and buildings were pulled down to expand the maqam.90 The out-come was a complete reshaping of this originally modest shrine.91 The build-ing that marked the shrine at that time was a humble Ottoman structure, with afew remains from the late medieval period. An inscription near the mihrab ofthe old shrine indicated that this was in fact a shrine for al-Husayn and not forRuqayya.92 It was rebuilt in what might be termed the modern Persian style ofShi‘i mausoleums, with a serene portico and courtyard, and an interior deco-rated with a flood of mosaic mirrored ceilings and arches. An elaborate goldand silver zarih or maqsura (grillwork screen/enclosure) was manufactured inIsfahan and placed above the tomb in 1994.93

The Iranian transformation of another Ahl al-bayt shrine – that of SittZaynab on the outskirts of Damascus – was more of a community effort than agovernment sponsored project. In the early 1950s the Shi‘i community in Syriasupported the efforts to raise funds from Iran for the building project at SittZaynab. A wooden box that served as a cover for the grave was manufacturedin Tehran and sent as a gift to the shrine in 1955. In the years that followed,several architectural elements, such as gilded doors and mosaic works, weremanufactured in Iran and sent as “gifts from the Iranian people.”94 At theshrines of Fatima, Sakina and Umm Kulthum at al-Bab al-Saghir, the Iranians’approach was different. They chose to install a number of similar and lavishzarihs or maqsuras above the interior tomb, thus announcing the new identityof these spaces to the visitor, but without altering the appearance of the shrinesfrom outside. 95

The installation of another group of zarihs/maqsuras was also adopted byanother Shi‘i group in the early 1990s. The Bohras, a community of Isma‘iliShi‘is who live mainly in India and Pakistan and who claim to be the legiti-mate heirs of the Fatimids, have installed silver and gold grillwork maqsurasover the internal tombs of the head of al-Husayn and the shrine of the heads ofthe martyrs (maqam ru’us al-shuhada’) in Damascus.96 The zarihs/ maqsuras

90 Maqam al-Sayyida Ruqayya was registered by the Syrian antiquities authority as a histori-cal monument in 1979. It was categorized as an Ottoman building, considering that it was rebuiltin 1202/1787-8. Records of Mudiriyyat al-mabani al-athariyya, Damascus.

91 This was not the first Iranian intervention at this shrine. An earlier restoration was commis-sioned in 1323/1905 by the Iranian minister Mirza ‘Ali Asghar Khan. “Mashhad al-sayyidaruqayya fi dimashq,” al-Mawsim 1, no. 4 (1989): 1076-1077.

92 Muhammad As'ad Talas, Dhayl thimar al-maqasid (Beirut: Maktabat Lubnan, 1975), 229-230.

93 'Amir al-Hulw, al-Sayyida ruqayya bint al-husayn wa maqamaha fi dimashq (Vienna:Markaz Ahl al-Bayt al-Thaqafi al-Islami, 1998), 72-73.

94 Muhammad Fakhri Zakariyya, “Mintaqat al-sayyida zaynab bi-l-sham,” al-Mawsim 1, no.4 (1989): 887, Mervin, “Sayyida Zaynab,” 149-162.

95 The shrines of Fatima and Sakina at al-Bab al-Saghir Cemetery were registered as monu-ments by the Syrian antiquities authorities in the 1940s. al-Minajjid, Khitat Dimashq, 52-58.

96 For reactions to the Bohra’s interventions in Ahl al-bayt shrines and other Fatimid struc-tures in Cairo, see: William Lyster, “The Battle for Restoration,” Cairo Today, June 1988, 78-80.

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were made in Karachi and then were transferred to Syria on the day of thebirthday of the Prophet in 1992. The installation of these maqsuras by the Ira-nians and the Bohras evokes their attempts to express their patronage of Ahlal-bayt in Syria. It is worth mentioning here that the contributions made by theBohra community are not on the same large scale as those made by the Irani-ans.97 While the maqsuras dedicated by the Bohras to the Ahl al-bayt shrinesfeature architectural elements mimicking Fatimid buildings in Cairo, thus es-tablishing a visual link with the Fatimids,98 Iranian maqsuras are decorated ina fashion similar to the ones installed around the tombs of ‘Ali and al-Husaynin Najaf and Karbala in Iraq, the main Shi‘i visitation centers. Both groups at-tempt to form a visual relationship between the Ahl al-bayt shrines in Syriaand other popular ziyara places elsewhere, thus re-placing them on differentpilgrimage maps used by different groups of pilgrims.

The establishment of modern Shi‘i pilgrimage complexes at the Ahl al-baytshrines in Syria is the latest in a series of transformations that these placeshave seen over time. The narratives displayed in Persian inside SayyidaRuqayya today compliment the message of the entire structure, it is a state-ment about the Iranian Imami Shi‘i character of the shrine. On the other hand,the display of another set of narratives on the maqsura/zarih placed at theshrine of al-Husayn in the Umayyad mosque evokes another message to theIsma‘ili Bohra visitors.99 The use and display of narratives and the articulationof the shrines’ spaces provide a visual reminder of the Ahl al-bayt shrines’transformations through time. Some of those shrines were reconstructed to re-member a past that never existed. Built and visible forms are often a display ofpolitical claims and sectarian alliances. As these alliances changed, neglectedAhl al-bayt shrines were restored or new ones were constructed to reflect newidentities. The involvement of different Sunni and Shi‘i groups in the Ahl al-bayt shrines’ preservation epitomizes their investment in the making and re-making of these shrines.

97 The Bohra community has also embellished the dome of maqam ru’us al-shuhda’ in Da-mascus. The goal of this restoration was to give the dome the same appearance of those shrines inEgypt and India. The walls were adorned with verses from the Qur’an and qasa’id of SayyidnaTahir Saifuddin, contributing to the remaking the shrine and relating it more to Bohra piety.http://archive.mumineen.org/essays/ziyarat.html

98 The Bohra’s interventions in Damascus and Cairo were part of a larger restoration projectthat included ziyara sites in Yemen, East Africa and the Indian Subcontinent. Paula Sanders,“Bohra Architecture and the Restoration of Fatimid Culture,” in L'Egypte fatimide, son art etson histoire, ed. Marianne Barrucand (Paris: Presse de l'Université de Paris-Sorbonne, 1999),162-164, idem, “The Contest over Context: Fatimid Cairo in the Twentieth Century,” in Textand Context in Islamic Societies, ed. Irene A. Bierman (Reading: Ithaca, 2004), 144.

99 For example, the Basmallah of Sayyidna Muhammad Burhanuddin, the Bohra Dai of Imamal-Husayn, appears on the door of the zarih/maqsura.

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