History of Imam Hussainع Holy Shrine

When mukhtar ben abi obeida al-thaqafi ruled kufa in 65 A. H. calling for taking revenge on killers of Imam Hussain and his companions, he chased them, sentenced them and killed them. After that he built Imam Hussain s shrine with a dome of bricks and gypsum; therefore mukhtar was the first to build.

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Abbasid caliph, mamoon, tried to establish good relations with alawis for political reasons when he crowned imam ali bin musa al-ridha as a crown prince. He pretended coalition with them as they were rightful people for caliphate. He replaced the abbasid motto by the alawi motto in 193 A.H. and gave orders to build imam hussain shrine and to allow the alawis and their followers to go about freely for visiting imam shrine, so shias felt free and safe.

During mamoon reign the holy shrine was rebuilt and the high building continued to 232 A.H. when mutawakil ruled aggressively against shia. Become he hated ahlal-bait lprogeny of prophet mohemmed; he treated their followers cruelly. 

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In 247 A.H. caliph muntassir assumed caliphate. Alawis rejoiced for that as he treated then kindly, gave them money and ordered to dome the shrine of imam hussain putting milestones to guide people to the shrine, he moreover called for visiting it, so many people migrated to kerbala headed by sayid Ibraheem al-mujab ben mohammed al-abid ben imam mosa ben jaafer (P.b.u.t) 

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On the 9th of Thu-il-hajja, 273 A.H. the building built by Al-muntassir collapsed as people were paying a special visit to imam Hussain. Among the rescued was Abu Abdullah Mohammed B. al-hajjaj, a notable man in Kufa, who narrated the accident.

During Al-Mua`tathid reign in 283 A.H., The prince of Tabristan, Iran, Muhammad B. Zayd B. al-Hasan ordered the holy shrine to be rebuilt with a high dome placed above the holy grave that is surrounded by a wall including two gates. He asked citizens to serve the pilgrims who visit Karbala’s holy shrines.

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In the period of Boweihian sovereignty, Athdh al-Dowlah ruled Baghdad and directed to renew the portico of Umran B. Shaheen, known as Ibrahim al-Mujab today, in the two holy shrines of Imam Ali and Imam Hussain.

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Sixth Construction of the Holy Shrine of Imam Hussain (as)

Fire broke out in the holy shrine during the boweihian control burning the dome and courtyard. Hassan B. Mufaddal renovated the building in 412 A.H. He however, built a dome on the shrine renovating what had the fire destroyed. He , also, ordered to surround the shrine with a high wall which, later, was mentioned by Ibn Idrees in his book (al- Ser’air) in 588 A.H. Ibn Sehlan then renovated the outer wall in 414 A.H.

In 620 A.H., the Abbasid caliph Al-Nasir Muayd Al-Kindi renewed the shrine and installed a wooden coffin above the holy grave.

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Seventh construction of the Holy Shrine of Imam Hussain

Sayid Hadi Tuama in his book (History of the shrines of al-Hussain and al-Abbas), says that sultan Mua`zaddin Oweis, B. Holaco Khan, who ruled Iraq after his brother sultan Hussain al-Sagheer, built the shrine with a semicircle shaped dome similar to the present shape.

Work started in 767 A.H. until 786 A.H. by his son Ahmed B. Oweis. That building was kept as it is nowadays, with renovation from time to time specially after the mass destruction in 1991 from al-Intifada al-Shaabaniyah (Shaaban uprising).

Random shelling by mortars tanks and helicopters of the republican guards led by Hussain Kamil, the son – in – law of Saddam Hussain, the deposed Iraqi dictator. This resulted in a big hole in al-Abbas dome and cracks in the exterior walls of the two shrines, in addition to killing thousands of innocent people of Karbala.

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READ More About A Timeline of the Constructions of Imam Hussein Holy shrine Click Here