journey to the seven heavens, the angel Gabriel said to him, “Do you know where you are now, Muhammad? You are in front of the Mosque of Kufan.” The Prophet, peace be upon him, asked for permission that he may perform two prostrations and he descended and performed prayer there. At the shrine for Adam’s atonement, two prostrations were prescribed. Imam Ali’s place of prayer was marked by a shrine and so was that of Zayn al-Abidin. There was another shrine, Bayt al-Tasht, then the last one belonged to Imam Jaafar al-Sadiq.
A little girl asked me, “Why don’t you pray?”
I explained to her that we were on a working visit and that we would come some other time. The place was quite awe-inspiring. Did the flood actually begin here? Or in one of the other places that compete for the credit? I went out to al-Sahla Mosque, which was the house where the Prophet Idris sewed and prayed, then to the garden of Muslim ibn Aqil, the first Shia martyr. We asked about the house of Sayyidna Ali and they pointed to a very small house no bigger than the house of a poor Egyptian peasant in Egypt. It was built of mud bricks and comprised one room, one hall, and a water well. I saw on the walls three line drawings of Imam Ali in front of Iraq’s famous date palm trees. I stood among the people as they sobbed fervently. I found myself catching the mood so I hurried out as my tears flowed profusely. I said, “Sayyidna Ali refused to live in the official amir’s residence and preferred this modest house to it.”
Hilmi Amin said, “This is a true revered scholar among the companions of the prophet.”
I said, “I loved the way he sat in judgment and how he decided his cases. I loved his truthfulness and his sacrifice, even though it is impossible to compare him to Umar ibn al-Khattab because of Umar’s charisma and his legend, which has reached us in a more dazzling manner in Egypt, but I don’t know why I love Sayyidna Ali better, regardless of the politicized problem that divided the Muslim community because of the fight over the caliphate.”
He said, “Politics has deposited all of its poison on this land and the result was the killing of all members of the family of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and the victory of the merchants, Nora.”
I said, “This is the Marxist interpretation of the events of Islamic history.”
Laughing, he said, “We’ll talk about the Marxist interpretation later. For now we have to see the palace, then the mosque.”
A short distance from where we were, I read a sign on a small piece of wood that said “The Amir’s Palace,” and saw an arrow pointing at a big crater with the rubble of the foundation of a building and nothing more. This palace had been built by Saad ibn Abi Waqqas when he built the mosque of Kufa and had it not been for a famous incident, the palace would still be standing. It was related that Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan sat, placing the head of Mus‘ab in front of him. Abd al-Malik ibn Umayr said to him, “O Commander of the Faithful, I sat with Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad in this place and the head of al-Husayn ibn Ali, peace be upon him, was in front of him. Then I sat with al-Mukhtar ibn Ubayda and, lo and behold, the head of Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad was in front of him. Then I sat with Mus‘ab, and lo and behold, Mukhtar’s head was in front of him. Then I sat with the Commander of the Faithful and Mus‘ab’s head was in front of him. I pray to God to guard against placing the Commander of the Faithful in such an evil spot.” The Commander of the Faithful said, “May God not show you the fifth (head),” and he right away commanded that the palace be demolished.
I went to Sayyidna Ali’s majlis. It was very crowded with people moving about or praying, each carrying a piece of clay that theyplaced on the floor in such a way that their foreheads ended up touching it when completing their prostration.
I said, “Isn’t this a form of idolatry?”
He said, “No.
A little girl asked me, “Why don’t you pray?”
I explained to her that we were on a working visit and that we would come some other time. The place was quite awe-inspiring. Did the flood actually begin here? Or in one of the other places that compete for the credit? I went out to al-Sahla Mosque, which was the house where the Prophet Idris sewed and prayed, then to the garden of Muslim ibn Aqil, the first Shia martyr. We asked about the house of Sayyidna Ali and they pointed to a very small house no bigger than the house of a poor Egyptian peasant in Egypt. It was built of mud bricks and comprised one room, one hall, and a water well. I saw on the walls three line drawings of Imam Ali in front of Iraq’s famous date palm trees. I stood among the people as they sobbed fervently. I found myself catching the mood so I hurried out as my tears flowed profusely. I said, “Sayyidna Ali refused to live in the official amir’s residence and preferred this modest house to it.”
Hilmi Amin said, “This is a true revered scholar among the companions of the prophet.”
I said, “I loved the way he sat in judgment and how he decided his cases. I loved his truthfulness and his sacrifice, even though it is impossible to compare him to Umar ibn al-Khattab because of Umar’s charisma and his legend, which has reached us in a more dazzling manner in Egypt, but I don’t know why I love Sayyidna Ali better, regardless of the politicized problem that divided the Muslim community because of the fight over the caliphate.”
He said, “Politics has deposited all of its poison on this land and the result was the killing of all members of the family of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and the victory of the merchants, Nora.”
I said, “This is the Marxist interpretation of the events of Islamic history.”
Laughing, he said, “We’ll talk about the Marxist interpretation later. For now we have to see the palace, then the mosque.”
A short distance from where we were, I read a sign on a small piece of wood that said “The Amir’s Palace,” and saw an arrow pointing at a big crater with the rubble of the foundation of a building and nothing more. This palace had been built by Saad ibn Abi Waqqas when he built the mosque of Kufa and had it not been for a famous incident, the palace would still be standing. It was related that Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan sat, placing the head of Mus‘ab in front of him. Abd al-Malik ibn Umayr said to him, “O Commander of the Faithful, I sat with Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad in this place and the head of al-Husayn ibn Ali, peace be upon him, was in front of him. Then I sat with al-Mukhtar ibn Ubayda and, lo and behold, the head of Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad was in front of him. Then I sat with Mus‘ab, and lo and behold, Mukhtar’s head was in front of him. Then I sat with the Commander of the Faithful and Mus‘ab’s head was in front of him. I pray to God to guard against placing the Commander of the Faithful in such an evil spot.” The Commander of the Faithful said, “May God not show you the fifth (head),” and he right away commanded that the palace be demolished.
I went to Sayyidna Ali’s majlis. It was very crowded with people moving about or praying, each carrying a piece of clay that theyplaced on the floor in such a way that their foreheads ended up touching it when completing their prostration.
I said, “Isn’t this a form of idolatry?”
He said, “No.
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