The Golden Mosque at Samarra
The Golden Mosque is located in the ancient city of Samarra which is about sixty miles north of Bagdad. The city has about 200,000 inhabitants.
This Shiite mosque is also known as the Askariya Shrine. The mosque is a mausoleum to the following:
10th Imam-Imam Ali al-Naqi
11th Imam-Imam Hasan al-Askari. The 11th Imam is the father of the 12th Imam, Al-mahdi. The 12th Imam is known as the “hidden Imam.” He disappeared and is expected to return at the end of the ages to bring peace in prosperity.
Also buried in the Golden Mosque are two women. One is the sister of al-Naqi who wrote of the al-Mahdi’s birth and the other is the mother of al-Mahdi. The place where al-Mahdi disappeared is covered by a dome and is called Maqam Ghaybat.
On February 22, 2006 people dressed as police officers captured five guards at the mosque and placed two bombs under the golden dome and blew it up.
This attack upon one of the Shiites holiest shrines exacerbated greatly the relationship between the Sunni's and the Shiites.
Pictures of this Shrine are located above.
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