Imamzadeh

{{Short description|Type of Shia Islamic holy person or shrine-tomb of a holy person}}

{{For|places in Iran|Emamzadeh (disambiguation){{!}}Emamzadeh}}

An imamzadeh ({{Langx|fa|امامزاده|emāmzādeh|Imam descendant}}) is a Persian term with two related meanings: a type of holy person in Shia Islam, and the shrine-tomb of such a person.

Descendant

An imamzadeh is an immediate descendant of a Shi'i Imam. The term is also used in Urdu and Azeri. Imamzadeh means "offspring" or descendant of an imam. There are many different ways of spelling the word in English,{{cite book |editor=Esposito, John L. |year=2003 |title=The Oxford Dictionary of Islam |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn= }}{{rp|136}} such as imamzada, imamzadah and emamzadah.{{cite book |editor=Glasse, Cyril |year=2001 |title=The Concise Encyclopedia of Islam |edition=Revised |publisher=Stacey International |location=London |page=213 |isbn= }}{{cite book |author=Lambton, A.K.S. |chapter=Imamzada |title=Encyclopedia of Islam |edition=2nd |editor1=Bearman, P. |editor2=Bianquis, Th. |editor3=Bosworth, C.E. |editor4=Van Donzel, E. |editor5=Heinrichs, W.P. |publisher=Brill |year=2010 |location=Augustana |access-date=6 April 2010 |url=http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/entry?entry=islam_SIM-3552 |isbn= }}{{Dead link|date=January 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Imamzadeh are basically the Syed's or Syeda's as they have descended from the Imams.{{cn|date= November 2022}} Imamzadehs are also sayyids, though not all sayyids are considered imamzadehs.

There are many important imamzadehs. Two of these are Fātimah bint Mūsā, the sister of Imam Ali al-Ridha, the eighth Twelver Imam, and Zaynab bint Ali, daughter of Ali, considered by Shi'i Muslims to be the first Imam and by Sunni Muslims as the fourth Rashid. Imamzadehs are not traditionally women.

Shrine tomb

Imamzadeh is also a term for a shrine-tomb of the descendants of Imams, who are directly related to Muhammad.{{rp|136}} The shrines are only for the descendants of Imams and they are not for the Imams themselves. The shrine-tombs are used as centers of Shi'i devotion and pilgrimage. They are believed to have miraculous properties and the ability to heal.{{rp|185}} Many of them are located in Iraq, Medina (Saudi Arabia), India and Iran.

File:Mollah imamzadeh tabriz.jpg praying in Imāmzādeh Sayyid Hamzah, Tabriz]]

File:Haram emamzadeh saleh.jpg

File:İmamzadə türbəsi (Gəncə) 2.jpg

Many people visit the imamzadehs that are relatively close to them. There are also special ziyarat-namas (pilgrimages) for many of the imamzadehs. Some of these pilgrimages even happen annually during the certain time of year. Some of the imamzadehs are not as well kept as others. According to Reinisch, an imamzadeh that he saw was mostly in ruins, though it is still important.{{Cite journal |last=Reinisch |first=Leo |date=1897 |title=Egypt and Abyssinia |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1774943 |journal=The Geographical Journal |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=314–318 |doi=10.2307/1774943 |issn=0016-7398|url-access=subscription }}

= Popular culture =

The Imamzadehs were so influential that some cities or parts of cities are named after the Imamzadehs who are buried there, for example, Torbat-e Heydarieh, Astaneh-ye Ashrafiyeh in Gilan, Astaneh near Arak, and Shahreza.{{Cite web |title=Loving Imomzadeh |work=farhangi.tums.ac.ir |lang= |date= |access-date= |url=https://farhangi.tums.ac.ir/%DB%B2%DB%B6-%D8%AE%D8%B1%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AF-%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B2-%D8%AA%D8%AC%D9%84%DB%8C%D9%84-%D8%A7%D8%B2-%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%AF%DA%AF%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%88-%D8%A8%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%B9-%D9%85%D8%AA%D8%A8%D8%B1%DA%A9%D9%87_21560.html}}