An Najaf النجف
Shrine o Ali.
The location o Najaf (printit in red) athin Iraq.
An Najaf The location o Najaf (printit in red) athin Iraq.
Coordinates: 32°00′00″N 44°20′00″E / 32.00000°N 44.33333°E / 32.00000; 44.33333
Kintra	Iraq
Province	Najaf Province
Elevation	60 m (200 ft)
Population (2008)
• Tot	560,000
	Approximate figures[1]
Time zone	UTC+3

Najaf (Arabic: النجف‎; BGN: An Najaf) is a ceety in Iraq aboot 160 km sooth o Baghdad. Its estimatit population in 2008 is 560,000 fowk.^[1] It is the caipital o Najaf Province. It is widely considered the third holiest ceety o Shia Islam an the centre o Shia poleetical pouer in Iraq.

Releegious significance |

Najaf is renowned as the steid o the tomb o Alī ibn Abī Tālib an aa kent as "Imām Alī"the First Imam o Shia's , the cousin an son-in-law o the prophet Muhammad whom the Shia consider tae be the righteous caliph . The ceety is nou a great centre o pilgrimage frae throughoot the Shi'a Islamic warld. It is estimatit that anerlie Mecca an Medina receive mair Muslim pilgrims. As the burial steid o Shia Islam's seicont maist important figur,^[2] the Imam Ali Mosque is considered bi aw Shias as the third holiest Islamic steid.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]}

The Imam Ali Mosque is hoosed in a grand structur wi a gowd gilditd dome an moany precious objects in the waws. Nearbi is the Wadi-us-Salaam cemetery, reputit tae be the lairgest in the warld.^[11] It contains the tombs o several prophets an mony o the devout frae aroond the warld aspire tae be buried here, tae be raised frae the deid wi Imām Alī on Judgement Day. Ower the centuries, numerous hospices, schuils, libraries an Sufi convents wur biggit aroond the shrine tae mak the ceety the centre o Shīʻa learnin an theology.

The Najaf seminary is ane o the maist important teachin centres in the Islamic warld. Ayatollah Khomeini lectured thare frae 1964-1978.^[1]
Mony o the leadin figures o the new Islamic muivement that emerged in Iraq, Iran an Lebanon in the 1970s haed studied at Najaf.^[12]

Hintle o Najaf's heritage wis badly damaged durin the rule o Saddam Hussein, wi a heich-gate bein driven throu the middle o the Wādī'u s-Salām.

Sister ceeties |

• 
  Minneapolis, Unitit States
  

See an aa |

• Battle o Najaf (2003)


• Battle o Najaf (2004)


• Battle o Najaf (2007)


• Al Najaf Internaitional Airport


• Leet o places in Iraq

References |

Freemit airtins |

Wikimedia Commons haes media relatit tae Najaf.

• The Holy City of Najaf (Iraq)


• 
  Interactive Guide: Najaf - The Guardian
  

Coordinates: 32°00′N 44°20′E / 32.00°N 44.33°E / 32.00; 44.33