page_title: Ali as Caliph
section_title: Burial
hierarchical_section_title: Ali as Caliph / Burial
caption_attribution_description: Mazar-e Sharif, AfghanistanAfghanistan
context_page_description: Ali was the caliph between 656 and 661 CE, one of the hardest periods in Muslim history, coinciding with the first Muslim civil war. He reigned over the Rashidun empire which extended from Central Asia in the east to North Africa in the west. He became known as a both just and fair ruler.
context_section_description: Because Ali did not want his grave to be desecrated by his enemies, he asked his friends and family members to bury him secretly. This secret gravesite is supposed to have been revealed later during the Abbasid caliphate by Ja'far al-Sadiq, the sixth Shia Imam. Most Shi'as accept that Ali was buried at the Tomb of Imam Ali in the Imam Ali Mosque at what is now the city of Najaf, which grew around the mosque and shrine called Masjid Ali.
  However another story, usually maintained by Afghans, notes that his body was taken and buried in the Afghan city of Mazari Sharif at the famous Blue Mosque or Rawze-e-Sharif.
caption: Rawze-e-Sharif, the Blue Mosque, in Mazari Sharif, Afghanistan - Where a minority of Muslims believe Ali ibn Abi Talib is buried
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