Login
Login

Mazar (mausoleum)

{{short description|Venerated structure in traditional Islam}}

{{other uses|Mazar (disambiguation)}}

{{Italic title}}

{{Duplication|dupe=Mausoleum|date=August 2020}}

{{Dictionary|date=October 2023}}File:Mazar-e sharif - Steve Evans.jpg in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, one of the reputed burial places of Ali, cousin and son-in law of Muhammad.]]

{{Arab culture}}

File:Sayyeda Ruqayya Mashhad.jpg, a patron saint of Cairo.

File:Darbar-e-Jilani_duthro_Sharif.jpg

The shrine of Pir Hadi Hassan Bux Shah Jilani, Duthro Sharif, Pakistan]]

A mazār ({{langx|ar|مَزَار}}), also transliterated as mazaar, also known as marqad ({{lang|ar|مَرْقَد}}) or in the Maghreb as ḍarīḥ ({{lang|ar|ضَرِيْح}}), is a mausoleum or shrine in some places of the world, typically that of a saint or notable religious leader. Medieval Arabic texts may also use the words mašhad ({{lang|ar|مَشْهَد}}) or maqām to denote the same concept.{{sfn|Sandouby|2008|p=14}}

Etymology

  • Mazār, plural mazārāt ({{Lang|ar|مَزَارَات}}), is related to the word ziyāra ({{Lang|ar|زيارة}}, meaning "visitation").{{Cite web|last=Team|first=Almaany|title=تعريف و شرح و معنى زيارة بالعربي في معاجم اللغة العربية معجم المعاني الجامع، المعجم الوسيط ،اللغة العربية المعاصرة ،الرائد ،لسان العرب ،القاموس المحيط - معجم عربي عربي صفحة 1|url=https://www.almaany.com/ar/dict/ar-ar/%D8%B2%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A9/|access-date=2020-07-08|website=www.almaany.com|language=en}} It refers to a place and time of visiting.{{sfn|Sandouby|2008|p=16}} Arabic in origin, the word has been borrowed by Persian, Hindi-Urdu and Bengali.{{cite web |title=Meaning of mazar in English |url=https://www.rekhtadictionary.com/meaning-of-mazaar?lang=en |publisher=Rekhta Dictionary |access-date=2 December 2023 |language=en}}{{cite web |title=मज़ार - Meaning in English |url=https://www.shabdkosh.com/dictionary/hindi-english/%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%9C%E0%A4%BC%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B0/%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%9C%E0%A4%BC%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B0-meaning-in-english |publisher=Shabdkosh |access-date=2 December 2023 |language=en}} It has also been rendered as mazaar in English.{{cite web | title=About | website=Cape Mazaar Society | url=http://www.capemazaarsociety.com/about.php | access-date=25 February 2023}}
  • Darīh, plural aḍriḥa ({{Lang|ar|أضرحة}}) or ḍarāiḥ ({{Lang|ar|ضرائح}}), is related to the verb ḍaraḥa ({{Lang|ar|ضَرَحَ}} meaning "to inter").{{Cite web|last=Team|first=Almaany|title=تعريف و شرح و معنى ضرح بالعربي في معاجم اللغة العربية معجم المعاني الجامع، المعجم الوسيط ،اللغة العربية المعاصرة ،الرائد ،لسان العرب ،القاموس المحيط - معجم عربي عربي صفحة 1|url=https://www.almaany.com/ar/dict/ar-ar/%D8%B6%D8%B1%D8%AD/|access-date=2020-07-08|website=www.almaany.com|language=en}} It is commonly used in the Maghreb.
  • Mašhad, plural mašāhid ({{Lang|ar|مشاهد}}), is related to the word šahīd ({{Lang|ar|شهيد}}, meaning "martyr").{{sfn|Sandouby|2008|p=14}} It refers to the resting place of a martyr who gave their life for the cause of God.

Specific types of shrines

  • Mashhad usually refers to a structure holding the tomb of a holy figure, or a place where a religious visitation occurred.{{sfn|Sandouby|2008|p=14}}{{efn|The city of Mashhad in Iran takes its name from the sense of mashhad meaning "place of martyrdom". It is the place where the eighth Imam Ali Al-Ridha was martyred.{{sfn|Halm|2007|p=26}}}} A mashhad often had a dome over the place of the burial within the building. Some had a minaret.{{sfn|Sandouby|2008|p=17}}
  • Maqām, plural maqāmāt, literally "station", referring to where one stays or resides, is often used for Ahl al-Bayt shrines.{{sfn|Sandouby|2008|p=15}} According to Ibn Taymiyya, the maqāmāt are the places where the revered person lived, died or worshiped, and the mashāhidd are buildings over the maqāmāt or over relics of the person.{{sfn|Sandouby|2008|p=16}}

Regional terms for equivalent structures

  • Mazār is the Arabic word borrowed by Persian, Urdu-Hindi and Bengali. It is thus largely used in Iran and other countries influenced by Persian culture, in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.
  • Weli (plural awliya): in Palestine, weli is the common term both for a saint and his sanctuary. A prophet's weli is called a hadrah, a common saint's is a maqam and a famous saint has a mashhad.{{cite book |author=Moshe Sharon |author-link=Moshe Sharon |year=1998 |title=Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum Palaestinae (CIAP), Volume Two: B-C |publisher=Brill Academic Publishing |page=172 |isbn=9789004110830 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EPFDU8POrXIC&pg=PA142 |access-date=3 January 2015 |archive-date=2 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202152042/https://books.google.com/books?id=EPFDU8POrXIC&pg=PA142 |url-status=live }} 19th- to early 20th-century Western literature has adopted the word "wali", sometimes written "weli", "welli", etc., with the meaning of a "tomb or mausoleum of a holy man".Guérin, 1880, p. [https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongogr01unkngoog#page/n501/mode/1up 488]
  • Qubba ({{abbr|lit.|literally}} "dome", plural qubbat): in Sudan, the tomb of a holy man. Sudanese folk Islam holds that the holy man is sharing his baraka or blessings also after death through his grave, which is the repository for his baraka and thus becomes a place of ziyara ziyarat or visitation. A holy man worthy of such a shrine is called in Sudan a wali, faki, or shaykh.{{cite book |title=Historical Dictionary of the Sudan |series=Historical Dictionaries of Africa |author1=Robert S. Kramer |author2=Richard A. Lobban Jr. |author3=Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban |year=2013 |edition=4 |location=Lanham, Maryland, USA |publisher=Scarecrow Press, an imprint of Rowman & Littlefield |page=361 |isbn=978-0-8108-6180-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0OKZRewiEOsC&pg=PA361 |quote=QUBBA. The Arabic name for the tomb of a holy man... A qubba is usually erected over the grave of a holy man identified variously as wali (saint), faki, or shaykh since, according to folk Islam, this is where his baraka [blessings] is believed to be strongest... |access-date=2 May 2015 |archive-date=2 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202152044/https://books.google.com/books?id=0OKZRewiEOsC&pg=PA361 |url-status=live }}
  • In northwest China, mazar is also translated phonetically as mázhā ({{lang|zh-cn|麻扎}}). It is also often referred to as a gǒngběi ({{lang|zh-cn|拱北}}), derived from the Persian word "gonbad" meaning "dome". It is often a shrine complex centered on a grave of a Sufi master of the Hui people.
  • In Iran and South Asia, a dargah is a Sufi Islamic shrine built over the grave of a revered religious figure.
  • In South Africa (especially the Western Cape), a kramat is the grave of a spiritual leader or auliya, sometimes inside a rectangular building that functions also as a shrine for the deceased (often a Cape Malay).{{cite web | title=Kramat| website=Robben Island Museum | date=27 July 2003 | url=http://www.robben-island.org.za/departments/heritage/gallery/kramat.asp | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050909133815/http://www.robben-island.org.za/departments/heritage/gallery/kramat.asp | archive-date=9 September 2005 | url-status=dead | access-date=25 February 2023}}
  • In Java, the terms makam and kuburan refer to graves of early missionaries, notably the Wali Songo. In the Malay cultural regions of the Riau Archipelago, Singapore and the Malay Peninsula, keramat refers to an object or person believed to be sacred or blessed, for example the tomb of a Muslim saint (see also Datuk Keramat).{{cite thesis |author=Muhammad Faisal Husni |title=The grave that became a shrine: the lives of keramat graves in Singapore |degree=Master of Arts (Research) |url=https://dr.ntu.edu.sg/handle/10220/47512 |date=2018 |doi=10.32657/10220/47512 |publisher=Nanyang Technological University|hdl=10220/47512 |hdl-access=free }}

Related terms

  • Masjid, plural masājid, means a place of prostration or prayer, and is often used by Shi'a for shrines to which mosques have been attached.{{sfn|Sandouby|2008|p=16}}
  • Darīh, plural adriha, is a trench in the middle of the grave, or the grave itself.{{sfn|Sandouby|2008|p=15}}

Origins

Image:Shrine Of Allo Mahar sharif.jpg is celebrated on 23 March every year]]

Practices vary considerably in different countries. Syncretism is not unusual, where pre-Islamic practices and beliefs persist among Muslim communities.{{sfn|Burman|2002|p=9}} A cult of saints developed within some Muslim communities at an early date, following deeply ingrained pre-Islamic practices in the Middle East. Mashhads, or sanctuaries, were established by certain people for figures mentioned from the Quran, such as Muhammad, Jesus, the prophets, and other main figures of the Jewish and Christian Bible, great rulers, military leaders and clerics.{{sfn|Houtsma|1993|p=425}}

Opponents

The followers of Wahhabism consider that no person can mediate between man and God.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NhXqWLd_AMQC&q=Wahhabi+intermediary&pg=PA105|title=The Sufi Orders in Islam|last=Trimingham|first=J. Spencer|date=1998-07-16|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780198028239|pages=105|language=en|access-date=2021-06-30|archive-date=2023-02-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202152049/https://books.google.com/books?id=NhXqWLd_AMQC&q=Wahhabi+intermediary&pg=PA105|url-status=live}} They consider that Muslims who believe that saints and their shrines have holy properties are polytheists and heretics. In 1802, Wahhabi forces partially destroyed the shrine of Imam Husayn.{{sfn|Nasr|2007|p=97}}{{Cite web|title=Sahih Muslim 969a, 969b - The Book of Prayer - Funerals - كتاب الجنائز - Sunnah.com - Sayings and Teachings of Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم)|url=https://sunnah.com/muslim:969a|access-date=2021-02-13|website=sunnah.com|archive-date=2021-04-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411124102/https://sunnah.com/muslim:969a|url-status=live}} In 1925, the commander and later-king of Saudi Arabia, Abdulaziz Ibn Saud, destroyed the manmade structures in Jannat al-Baqīʿ in Medina, the burial place of four of the Shia imams and of Muhammad's daughter.{{sfn|Nasr|2007|p=97}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SLIlDQAAQBAJ&q=Wahabi+al-Baqi+cemetery&pg=PA163|title=Crossing the Kingdom: Portraits of Saudi Arabia|last=Danforth|first=Loring M.|date=2016-03-29|publisher=Univ of California Press|isbn=9780520290280|pages=163|language=en|access-date=2021-06-30|archive-date=2022-04-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407010343/https://books.google.com/books?id=SLIlDQAAQBAJ&q=Wahabi+al-Baqi+cemetery&pg=PA163|url-status=live}} The cemetery still exists, albeit in a much simpler form, and is used to bury the dead.

Design

File:Al Askari Mosque.jpg in Samarra before the 2006 bombing.]]

There is no specific architectural type for mazārs, which vary greatly in size and elaboration. However, they all follow the conventional design of the turba, or tomb, and generally have a dome over a rectangular base.{{sfn|Houtsma|1993|p=425}}

Notable examples

= In Iraq =

The Imam Husayn Shrine in Karbala, Iraq draws Shia pilgrims from Iraq, Iran and elsewhere.

The Sirdāb of Caliph al-Mahdi ({{abbr|r.|reigned}} 775–785) is preserved in Samarra, Iraq under a golden dome that was presented by Naser al-Din Shah Qajar and that was completed by Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar in 1905.{{sfn|Houtsma|1993|p=488}} The tomb lies within the Al-Askari Mosque, one of the most important of Shia shrines. The mosque was badly damaged in a February 2006 bombing, presumably the work of Sunni militants.{{sfn|Rabasa|Chalk|Cragin|Daly|2006|p=51}}

= In Iran =

As of 2007, the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, Iran attracted 12 million visitors annually, second only to Mecca as a destination for Muslim pilgrims. This shrine is known for its healing powers.

The shrine of Princess Shahrbanu, just south of Tehran, is open only to women. Shahrbanu was the daughter of Yazdegerd III, the last Sassanid ruler of Persia. She married Imam Hussein ibn Ali and was mother of the fourth Shia imam, Ali ibn al-Husayn, so has come to symbolize the early and close connection between Shiism and Iran. The shrine is popular with women seeking solace or assistance.{{sfn|Nasr|2007|p=63}}

= In Syria =

The Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque, the shrine of Zaynab bint Ali in Damascus, has been restored with the help of contributions from Shias from India, Pakistan, Iran and elsewhere.{{sfn|Nasr|2007|p=56}} The shrine is one of the most important Shia sites in Syria, and draws many pilgrims from Iraq, Lebanon and Iran. In September 2008 a car bomb was detonated outside the shrine, killing 17.{{sfn|Syrian car bomb attack kills 17}}

File:Al-NuqtahMosque-MainHall.JPG in Aleppo, restored and with steel-frame roof added.]]

In Aleppo, the Mashhad al-Husayn from the Ayyubid period is the most important of Syrian medieval buildings.{{sfn|Tabbaa|1997|p=110}} The shrine of al-Husayn was built on a place indicated to a shepherd by a holy man who appeared to him in a dream, and was built by members of the local Shia community.{{sfn|Tabbaa|1997|p=111}} The present building is a reconstruction: the original suffered severe damage in 1918 from a huge explosion, and for forty years lay in ruins.{{sfn|Tabbaa|1997|p=110}} The original restoration largely succeeded in restoring the mashhad to its former appearance. Later additions included covering the courtyard with a steel frame canopy and adding a brightly decorated "shrine", which have given the monument a very different character from the original.{{sfn|Tabbaa|1997|p=111}}

= In Egypt =

In Egypt, many mashhads devoted to religious figures were built in Fatimid Cairo, mostly straightforward square structures with a dome. A few of the mausoleums at Aswan were more complex and included side rooms.{{sfn|Kuiper|2009|p=164}} Most of the Fatimid mausoleums have either been destroyed or have been greatly altered through later renovations. The Mashad al-Juyushi, also called Mashad Badr al-Jamali, is an exception. This building has a prayer hall covered with cross-vaults, with a dome resting on squinches over the area in front of the mihrab. It has a courtyard with a tall square minaret. It is not clear whom the mashhad commemorates.{{sfn|Petersen|2002|p=45}}

Two other important mashhads from the Fatimid era in Cairo are those of Sayyida Ruqayya and of Yayha al-Shabib, in the Fustat cemetery. Sayyida Ruqayya, a descendant of Ali, never visited Egypt, but the mashhad was built to commemorate her. It is similar to al-Juyushi, but with a larger, fluted dome and with an elegantly decorated mihrab.{{sfn|Petersen|2002|p=45-46}}

= In Pakistan =

Some shrines draw both Sunni and Shia pilgrims. One example is the shrine of Abdol-Ghazi Sahab in Karachi, said to be a relative of Ja'far al-Sadiq, the sixth imam. He had fled from the Abbasids in Baghdad to Sindh, where he was given refuge by a Hindu prince.{{sfn|Nasr|2007|p=58}} The Shias venerate him as a member of the family of imams, while the Sunni simply see him as a person of great sanctity.

Another example is the Lahore shrine of Bibi Pak Daman, thought to be the place of burial of one of Ali's daughters and four other women of Muhammad's family.{{sfn|Nasr|2007|p=58}} The famous Sufi saint of the Sunni branch of Islam, Sayyid Ali Hujwiri (died 1071), once meditated for forty days in this shrine.{{sfn|Nasr|2007|p=59}}

= In Uzbekistan =

File:Shaihantaur.JPG in Tashkent, Uzbekistan]]

File:Imogiri Mausolea of the Yogyakarta Sultans, 0940.jpg Mausoleum complex of the sultans of Java, Indonesia]]

= In Kyrgyzstan =

= In Afghanistan =

= In China =

= In Egypt =

  • Aga Khan III Mausoleum in Aswan
  • Abu Al Hassan El-Shazly Mausoleum in Sheikh Shazly

= In Sudan =

  • Mausoleum of the Mahdi in Omdurman
  • Mausoleum of Sheikh Hassan al-Nil in Omdurman

= In Pakistan =

= In India =

= In Bangladesh =

File:Shah Jalal Mazar (04).jpg in Sylhet, Bangladesh]]

= In Indonesia =

= In Singapore =

  • Keramat Iskandar Syah, at Fort Canning Hill, is believed to be the tomb of Raja Iskandar Shah a 14-century king of Singapore.{{Cite web|last=Tye|first=Timothy|date=2006|title=Keramat Iskandar Syah|url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_1540_2009-07-06.html|website=Singapore Travel Tips|access-date=2020-09-28|archive-date=2019-05-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190518113149/http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_1540_2009-07-06.html|url-status=live}}

See also

{{columns-list|

}}

References

=Notes=

{{notes}}

=Citations=

{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

=Sources=

{{refbegin}}

  • {{cite book|last=Burman|first=J. J. Roy|title=Hindu-Muslim Syncretic Shrines and Communities|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mcuxIsn6wbQC&pg=PA9|access-date=2013-03-12|year=2002|publisher=Mittal Publications|isbn=978-81-7099-839-6|archive-date=2023-02-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202152038/https://books.google.com/books?id=mcuxIsn6wbQC&pg=PA9|url-status=live}}
  • {{cite book|last=Halm|first=Heinz|title=The shiites: a short history|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uUzuAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA26|access-date=2013-03-12|date=2007-07-01|publisher=Markus Wiener Publishers|isbn=978-1-55876-436-1|archive-date=2023-02-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202152052/https://books.google.com/books?id=uUzuAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA26|url-status=live}}
  • {{cite book|last=Houtsma|first=M. Th|title=First Encyclopaedia of Islam: 1913-1936|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GEl6N2tQeawC&pg=PA425|access-date=2013-03-12|year=1993|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-09796-4|page=425|archive-date=2023-02-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202152052/https://books.google.com/books?id=GEl6N2tQeawC&pg=PA425|url-status=live}}
  • {{cite book|last=Kuiper|first=Kathleen|title=Islamic Art, Literature, and Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rBGpbDq83QoC&pg=PA164|access-date=2013-03-12|date=2009-12-11|publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group|isbn=978-1-61530-097-6|archive-date=2023-02-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202152057/https://books.google.com/books?id=rBGpbDq83QoC&pg=PA164|url-status=live}}
  • {{cite book|last=Nasr|first=Vali|title=The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam Will Shape the Future|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a-QH_CxIFTEC&pg=PA56|access-date=2013-03-13|date=2007-04-17|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|isbn=978-0-393-06640-1|archive-date=2023-02-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202152044/https://books.google.com/books?id=a-QH_CxIFTEC&pg=PA56|url-status=live}}
  • {{cite book|last=Petersen|first=Andrew|title=Dictionary of Islamic Architecture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gVQj7bW0W9MC&pg=PA45|access-date=2013-03-12|date=2002-03-11|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-203-20387-3|archive-date=2023-02-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202152032/https://books.google.com/books?id=gVQj7bW0W9MC&pg=PA45|url-status=live}}
  • {{cite book|last1=Rabasa|first1=Angel|last2=Chalk|first2=Peter|last3=Cragin|first3=Kim|first4=Sara A.|last4=Daly|author5=Heather S. Gregg|title=Beyond al-Qaeda: Part 2, The Outer Rings of the Terrorist Universe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=olSUOsl-Z44C&pg=PA51|access-date=2013-03-12|year=2006|publisher=Rand Corporation|isbn=978-0-8330-4105-0|archive-date=2023-02-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202152100/https://books.google.com/books?id=olSUOsl-Z44C&pg=PA51|url-status=live}}
  • {{cite book|last=Sandouby|first=Aliaa Ezzeldin Ismail|title=The Ahl Al-bayt in Cairo and Damascus: The Dynamics of Making Shrines for the Family of the Prophet|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IBZmp4ZO4MAC&pg=PA14|access-date=2013-03-12|year=2008|isbn=978-0-549-72466-7|page=14}}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
  • {{cite journal|ref={{harvid|Syrian car bomb attack kills 17}}|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7639137.stm|title=Syrian car bomb attack kills 17|journal=BBC News|date=27 September 2008|access-date=2013-03-13|archive-date=2008-09-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080927065128/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7639137.stm|url-status=live}}
  • {{cite book|last=Tabbaa|first=Yasser|title=Constructions of Power and Piety in Medieval Aleppo|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=30kb0G15IH8C&pg=PA110|access-date=2013-03-12|year=1997|publisher=Penn State Press|isbn=978-0-271-04331-9|page=110|archive-date=2023-02-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202152101/https://books.google.com/books?id=30kb0G15IH8C&pg=PA110|url-status=live}}

{{refend}}

{{Islamic architecture}}

{{Sufism terminology}}

{{Portal bar|Religion|Islam|Education|Psychology|Art|Architecture}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Sufi shrines

Category:Burial monuments and structures

Category:Mausoleums

Category:Place of ritual