History

Hazrat Ali ibn Abi Talib was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, ruling over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661. Ali was also the first young male who accepted Islam. Sunnis consider Ali the fourth and final of the Rashidun (rightly guided Caliphs), whileShias regard Ali as the first Imam after Muhammad, and consider him and his descendants the rightful successors to Muhammad, all of whom are members of the Ahl al-Bayt, the household of Muhammad. This disagreement split the Ummah (Muslim community) into the Sunn.i and Shi`i branches. Many sources, especially Shia ones, record that Ali was the only person born in the sacred sanctuary of the Kaaba in Mecca, the holiest place in Islam. When Muhammad reported receiving adivine revelation, Ali was the first young male to accept his message and first to convert to Islam at the age of 12, dedicating his life to the cause of Islam.
Ali migrated to Medina shortly after Muhammad did. Once there Muhammad told Ali that God had ordered Muhammad to give his daughter, Fatimah, to Ali in marriage. For the ten years that Muhammad led the community in Medina, Ali was extremely active in his service, leading parties of warriors in battles, and carrying messages and orders. Ali took part in the early caravan raids from Mecca and later in almost all the battles fought by the nascent Muslim community. Ali was appointed Caliph by the Companions of Muhammad (the Sahaba) in Medina after the assassination of the third caliph, `Uthman ibn Affan. While Shia's regard Muhammad's statements in Ghadir Khumm as constituting the designation of Ali as the successor of Muhammad.
He encountered defiance and civil war during his reign. In 661, Ali was attacked one morning while praying in the Great Masjid of Al-Kufah, and died two days later. Ali is respected for his courage, knowledge, belief, honesty, unbending devotion to Islam, deep loyalty to Muhammad, equal treatment of all Muslims and generosity in forgiving his defeated enemies, and therefore is central to mystical traditions in Islam such as Sufism. Ali retains his stature as an authority on Quranic exegesis, Islamic jurisprudence and religious thought. Ali holds a high position in almost all Sufi orders which trace their lineage through him to Muhammad. Ali's influence has been important throughout Islamic history.
Amir el-Mu'minin recommended disguising his tomb lest it should be exhumed and maimed as he knew that matters would be in favour of Bani U'mmayyad later on. In this respect, it is stated (Farhat El-Ghary, P:25) that:
This necessitated that he should be entombed secretly for fear that Bani 'Ummayyad and their associates and the Khawarijits [the Outsiders] would exhume the tomb so that Banu Hashim (a tribal section to which Imam Ali belongs) would not accept that and they might fight for it; something which he himself had refused in his life.
Simultaneously, Bin Abbas retells that" the messenger of God (PBUH) told Ali that the land of Kuffan would be honoured by the latter's tomb …, then Ali said in wonder, Oh, Messenger of Allah, a tomb in Kuffan? The Prophet answered, Yes, Ali; you'll be entombed beyond Kuffan between the Ghariyain and the white walls [or Rocks] (Ibid; 37-8).
Hence, according to Muntakhab El-Tawarikh (i.e. A Selection of Dates) (P: 291), when Bani 'Ummayyad became the rulers of Islam themselves, El-Hajjaj El- Thaqaffi, an Iraqi prince during the ‘Ummayyad reign, ordered to dig 3000 graves beyond Kooffan, i.e. in Najaf, searching formthe Imam Ali's corpse.
In view of the above mentioned, no one knew the location of the tomb except his sons and descendants (peace be upon them) and those entrusted among his supporters and proponents from the Shiites.
The Revelation of the Honourable Tomb and its Graces
The sons and descendants of Amir el-Mu'minin (PBUT) committed to the will of their father so that the location of the purified tomb remained unknown to everybody except to a certain number of the closest supporters.
After Bani 'Ummayyad regime had fallen down, and Bani El-Abbas taken over, hiding the tomb was no longer the case, and the secret began to be disclosed to the most faithful among the Shiites who believed in God and his messenger, loved and followed the messenger's progeny in their commitment to the holy verse in the Koran. "Say, I do not ask for fee for the message but kindness to the relatives ".
At that time, the tomb, according to remarkable historical sources, was just a sandy mound.
It is stated that Dawood Bin Ali El-Abbasi (died in 132 AH.) tried to know the secret of the tomb, so, he sent a mission of some of his trustable servants, among these there was a black man known for his considerable physical strength. They began digging until they reached a solid rock that stopped them from doing so. Then, they asked the black servant to get down the dug hole to try his luck in digging. As soon as he set a blow to the rock, he heard a great sound. He hit the rock again and again until they heard him shouting and calling for help to get him out. They tried to know what was going on, but, the black servant did not utter a word. He kept silent in dismay, and then his flesh began to scatter. This news reached Dawood Bin Ali who held his peace and reburied the grave putting a wooden box over it. Since then, many changes and repairs were done to the tomb.

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