On top of being a mosque “that was built on the site of a basilica dedicated to St. John, which was built on the site of a Roman temple to Jupiter, which was built on the site of an Aramean temple of Hadad-Ramman, god of thunder and lightning,” the Great Mosque is also an important Shi’ia shrine because several events from Shi’ism’s core Karbala drama are said to have taken place here. This building must have the most exhalted religious pedigree of any house of worship in the world.
External view of the gate that the prisoners of Karbalā were made to stand at for 72 hours – “Bāb as-Sā‘at” [The “gate of the hours”?]
The place where all the other heads of those who fell in Karbalā were kept within the Mosque.
The white pulpit marks the place where ‘Alī ibn Husayn addressed the court of Yazīd and the raised floor in front of it marks where the prisoners of Karbalā stood during that time.
The place where ‘Alī ibn Husayn used to pray while imprisoned.
Comment: nikobakos@gmail.com
Jadde: from Bosnia to Bengal 
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