ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Sulh al-Hasan Kufa During The Days Of The Pledge Of Allegiance Sa'sa'a b. Sawhan al-`Abdi[^1] described Kufa as: "the dome of Islam and top of speech." However, there were rude persons in Kufa. They prevented the people from obeying those who were in charge of authority (i.e., the Prophet's family). Also they prevented the people from meeting them. These were the manners of the possessors.

The Muslims inhabited Kufa in the year 17 A.H., namely directly after the conquest of Iraq.[^2] The early houses of Kufa were built of reed. However, they burned down. So they were built of adobes. The streets of Kufa were twenty cubits wide. Its lanes were seven cubits wide. The places of the buildings were among its streets. They were forty cubits wide. Also alqatay` (plots of land) were among its streets. They were sixty cubits wide. The Mosque was the first thing to be built in Kufa.

It was built in the Middle of the area which was chosen to build the city. A strong man threw arrows at all directions. Then the houses were built beyond the arrows. So the area before the arrows was allotted to build the Mosque and its yard. In front of the Mosque, they (the Muslims) built a porch on which they built pillars made of marble, which the followers of Kasra (a Persian king) brought from the ruins of al-Hira.

They (the Muslims) dug a trench around the yard of the Mosque to prevent the people from building houses near it. Suddenly, the buildings of Kufa increased. For the Commander of the faithful (Amir al-mu'minin) emigrated to it. Then he regarded it as a headquarters after the Battle of the Camel on the twelfth of the month of Rajab, in the year 36 A.H.

Among the motives of this initiative (the Emigration of Imam 'Ali to Kufa) was that the resources of Hijaz (Saudi Arabi) became so weak that this country depended on other resources from other countries. The most harmful thing for a certain country is that it depends on the resources of other countries. However, Kufa and Iraq did not suffer from the paucity of resources. In other words their resources were more than their needs. There were also military factors.

For example military rebels used Iraq as a base for their hostile acts. Prominent Muslim figures came successively to Kufa, from various Muslim countries. For it was the capital of the Caliphate. The Arab tribes from the Yemen and Hijaz, and the Persian communities from al-Mada'in and Iran inhabited Kufa.