Ali place of burial Imam Ali Mosque
Assassination and burial
Ali was assassinated during the morning prayer on 28 January 661 CE, equivalent to 19 Ramadan 40 AH. The other given dates are 26 and 30 January. He died of his wounds about two days after the Kharijite Abd al-Rahman ibn Muljam struck him over his head with a poison-coated sword at the Great Mosque of Kufa. He was sixty-two or sixty-three years of age at the time of his death. By some accounts, Ali had long known about his fate either by a premonition or through Muhammad, who might have told him that his beard would be stained with the blood of his head. Ibn Muljam had entered Kufa with the intention of killing Ali in revenge for the Kharijites' defeat in the Battle of Nahrawan in 658. He found two accomplices in Kufa, namely, Shabib ibn Bujra and Wardan ibn al-Mujalid. Unlike Ibn Muljam, the swords of these two missed Ali and they fled but were later caught and killed.Before his death, Ali requested either a meticulous application of lex talionis to Ibn Muljam or his pardon, and he was later executed by Hasan, the eldest son of Ali. By most accounts, also involved in the assassination was al-Ash'ath ibn Qays, whose loyalty to Ali is often questioned in the early sources. Fearing that his body might be exhumed and profaned by his enemies, Ali was then buried secretly. His grave was identified during the caliphate of the Abbasid Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809) and the town of Najaf grew around it near Kufa, becoming a major site of pilgrimage for Muslims, especially Shias. The present shrine was built by the Safavid Shah Safi (r. 1629–1642), near which lies an immense cemetery for Shias who wish to be buried next to their imam. Najaf is also home to top religious colleges and prominent Shia scholars.
final resting place burial site last resting place grave site interment location