page_title: Great Mosque of Kufa
section_title: Significance
hierarchical_section_title: Great Mosque of Kufa / Significance
caption_attribution_description: English: Kufa Mosque, Iraq
context_page_description: The Great Mosque of Kufa, or Masjid al-Kufa, is located in Kufa, Iraq and is one of the earliest and holiest surviving mosques in the world. The mosque, built in the 7th century, was home to Ali ibn Abi Talib, the 4th Rashidun caliph; and contains the remains of Maytham al-Tammar, Ali's companion; Muslim ibn Aqeel, first cousin of Imām Husayn ibn Ali, his companion Hani ibn Urwa; and the revolutionary, Al-Mukhtar. In recent history, the mosque has seen numerous renovations primarily under the purview of the Dawoodi Bohras, led by Mufaddal Saifuddin.
context_section_description: It was the place where Ali ibn Abi Talib was fatally wounded by a poison-coated sword while prostrating in the Fajr prayer.
  Contains the tombs of Muslim ibn Aqeel, Hani ibn Urwa, and Al-Mukhtar
  There are markers within the mosque indicating the locations for where the court of Ali used to preside, where he performed miracles, and where Imam Zayn al-Abidin and Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq used to perform Salah
  Islamic traditions relate that it was the dwelling place of Nuh (Noah) and that this was the place where he built the Ark
  According to Shia belief, it was from this mosque that the diluvium of Noah started submerging earth, as well as being the place from where the water was re-absorbed  - also marked within the Mosque
  Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq said that up to twelve miles of land in all directions from the mosque are blessed by its holiness.
  Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq was also recorded as remarking that the "mosque in Kufa is superior to that of Jerusalem" and that "performing two prostrations of prayer here would be better for me than ten others at any mosque."
  There are also Shia traditions which state that performing one prayer in this mosque is the same as having performed one thousand prayers elsewhere, and performing one obligatory prayer here is equal to having performed an accepted Hajj
  The secretariat of Al-Kufa Mosque and its shrines describes the mosque as being one of the sole four dignified mosques to which Muslims must travel, and that it comes in third place after the Kaaba and the mosque of Prophet."
  According to Shia belief, it is from this mosque that the messianic twelfth Imam, Hujjat-Allah al-Mahdi, will rule the world from, and it will serve as the seat of his power in the end of times.
caption: Kufa mosque in 1915
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