It's sad when people can't have tolerance in religion. The Christians were in Iraq before the Muslims.
Najaf's forgotten Christian heritage
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Today, the city of Najaf is a religious tourism hub for Shiites around the world. The city is home to the sacred shrine of Imam Ali ibn Abi-Talib — the fourth of the Rashidun Caliphs — built nearly 700 years ago, and hosts the highest Shiite religious authority in the Muslim world. In this overwhelming Islamic presence, scarce other religious representation can be found in the city, as Muslim clerics ban non-Islamic symbols in holy cities like Najaf, including Mecca and Karbala, where the building of other kinds of places of worship such as Christian churches is prohibited. This is an old phenomenon that emerged with the rise of Islam during the seventh century forbidding the existence of multiple religions in the Arabian peninsula.
Summary⎙ Print Historic Christian sites in Najaf are not only neglected like many other ancient sites across Iraq, but face an even steeper uphill battle for recognition and support as non-Islamic sites.
Author Wassim BassemPosted March 15, 2016
TranslatorMohammad Khalil
However, recent archaeological discoveries following excavation works in 2008 show that this conservative Islamic city so averse to churches is one of the oldest Christian cities in the world. The remains of a church and a monastery are believed to be the oldest Christian monuments in Iraq, dating back to the year 270.
Read more:
Najaf's forgotten Christian heritage - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East
Najaf's forgotten Christian heritage
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Today, the city of Najaf is a religious tourism hub for Shiites around the world. The city is home to the sacred shrine of Imam Ali ibn Abi-Talib — the fourth of the Rashidun Caliphs — built nearly 700 years ago, and hosts the highest Shiite religious authority in the Muslim world. In this overwhelming Islamic presence, scarce other religious representation can be found in the city, as Muslim clerics ban non-Islamic symbols in holy cities like Najaf, including Mecca and Karbala, where the building of other kinds of places of worship such as Christian churches is prohibited. This is an old phenomenon that emerged with the rise of Islam during the seventh century forbidding the existence of multiple religions in the Arabian peninsula.
Summary⎙ Print Historic Christian sites in Najaf are not only neglected like many other ancient sites across Iraq, but face an even steeper uphill battle for recognition and support as non-Islamic sites.
Author Wassim BassemPosted March 15, 2016
TranslatorMohammad Khalil
However, recent archaeological discoveries following excavation works in 2008 show that this conservative Islamic city so averse to churches is one of the oldest Christian cities in the world. The remains of a church and a monastery are believed to be the oldest Christian monuments in Iraq, dating back to the year 270.
Read more:
Najaf's forgotten Christian heritage - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East
