Kufa

Coordinates: 32°01′48″N 44°24′00″E / 32.03000°N 44.40000°E / 32.03000; 44.40000
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other uses, see Kufa (disambiguation).
Kufa
الْكُوفَة
GMT
+3

Kufa (

Arabic: الْكُوفَة “al-Kūfah”), also spelled Kufah, is a city in Iraq, about 170 kilometres (110 mi) south of Baghdad, and 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) northeast of Najaf. It is located on the banks of the Euphrates River. The estimated population in 2003 was 110,000. Currently, Kufa and Najaf are joined into a single urban area that is mostly commonly known to the outside world as 'Najaf'.[citation needed
]

Along with

Ali ibn Abi Talib. Kufa was also the founding capital of the Abbasid Caliphate. During the Islamic Golden Age it was home to the grammarians of Kufa. Kufic script
is named for the city.

History

The Great Mosque of Kufa, 1915 CE

Establishment during Umar's era

After the Arabian hegemony and the fall of Persian Empire, and its geographic proximity to the imperial capital, Ctesiphon) at

Al-Mughīrah ibn Shuʻbah
.

It was also conquered for few years by the Thaqafids dynasty led by Mokhtar Al Thaqafi after conquering Basra and other parts of Iraq.

The city was built in a circular plan according to the Partho-Sasanian architecture.[4]

Uthman's era

Governorship of Al-Walid

Following Umar's death (644), his successor Uthman replaced Mughirah with Al-Walid ibn Uqba in 645. This happened while the Arabs were continuing their conquest of western Persia under Uthman ibn Abi al-As from Tawwaj, but late in the 640s, these forces suffered setbacks.

Setbacks and governorship of Abu Musa

Uthman in 650 reorganised the Iranian frontier; both Basra and Kufa received new governors (

Sa'id ibn al-'As in Kufa's case), and the east came under Basra's command while north of that remained under Kufa's. The few but noticeable trouble makers in Kufa sought in 654 and had Sa'id deposed and instead showed satisfaction with the return of Abu Musa, which Uthman approved seeking to please all. Kufa remained a source of instigations albeit from a minority. In 656 when the Egyptian instigators, in co-operation with those in Kufa, marched onto the Caliph Uthman in Medina
, Abu Musa counselled the instigators to no avail.

Ali's era

Upon Uthman's assassination by rebels, governor Abu Musa attempted to restore a non-violent atmosphere in Kufa. The Muslims in Medina and elsewhere supported the right of

Ali ibn Abu Talib A.S to the caliphate
. In order to manage the military frontiers more efficiently, Ali A.S shifted the capital from Medina to Kufa.

The people of Syria and their governor,

Muawiyah
, who seized the Caliphate for himself and his family by using the confusion caused by the assassination of Caliph Uthman and being disturbed by the brutal assassination of the Caliph Uthman, demanded retribution. As Muawiyah mounted his campaign to hold Ali A.S responsible for the murder of Uthman, factions developed. In an already emotionally charged atmosphere, Muawiyah's refusal to give allegiance to Ali A.S as the Caliph without Ali A.S avenging Uthman first eventually, led to war.

While praying in the

Abd-al-Rahman ibn Muljam
. He was wounded by ibn Muljam's poison-coated sword while prostrating in the Fajr prayer.

Umayyad era

Governorship of Ziyad

Muawiyah I appointed Ziyad ibn Abihi Al the Governor of Kufa, after Hasan's A.S migration to Medina, which was a peace treaty which dictated he abdicate his right to caliphate to avoid an open war among Muslims. Some of Hasan's A.S followers, like Hujr ibn Adi, were unhappy with the peace treaty, and did not change their ways according to the edicts of the new Governor. This became increasingly noticeable, since it created a rebellion against the ruler. However, Ziyad ibn Abihi was an equally keen strategist and politician, and was able to put down all challenges posed by the rebels against his rule.[citation needed
]

Revolts

Throughout the Umayyad era, as was the case since the inception of the city by Umar ibn Khattab, there were those among Kufa's inhabitants who were rebellious to their rulers.

Al-Hajjaj.[citation needed
]

Abbasid era

al-Saffah as he receives pledges of allegiance
in Kufa

In 749, the

Abbasids under al-Hasan ibn Qahtaba took Kufa and made it their capital. In 762, they moved their seat to Baghdad. Under the Umayyad and early Abbasid decades, Kufa's importance gradually shifted from caliphal politics to Islamic theory and practice.[1] The city was sacked by the Qarmatians in 905, 924, and 927, and it never fully recovered from the destruction.[1]

Kufa in Islamic theology and scholarship

al-Shaybani
.

Shirazi's "Tabaqat", which Hallaq labels "an important early biographical work dedicated to jurists", covered 84 "towering figures" of Islamic jurisprudence; to which Kufa provided 20. It was therefore a center surpassed only by Medina (22), although Basra came close (17). Kufans could claim that the more prominent of Muhammad's Companions had called that city home: not only Ibn Abu Waqqas, Abu Musa, and Ali; but also Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud, Salman the Persian, Ammar ibn Yasir, and Huzayfa ibn Yaman. Among its jurists prior to Abu Hanifa, Hallaq singles out Sa'id ibn Jubayr, Ibrahim al-Nakha‘i, and Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman; and considers Amir al-Sha‘bi a pioneer in the science of judicial precedent.

Additionally, Imam

Ibn Hanbal
.

Kufa was also among the first centers of

Musnad
.

Given Kufa's opposition to

Abbasid
rule. This history does not survive but later historians like Tabari quoted from it extensively.

Kufa is also where the

surahs were used to decorate ceramics, for representations of nature were strictly forbidden under the Islamic regime.[citation needed] Al-Fihrist contains the biographies of many of the grammarian philologists from the school of Kufa and from its rival school of Basra
. A third chapter treats of the grammarians from both schools.

Post-Abbasid history

Kufan coins were among the numerous silver coins of various origins found in 1989 by the mouth of Dvina, right next to Arkhangelsk in the extreme north of Russia.[5] The Kufan coins were the only non-European ones in the hoard, and testify to the very wide-ranging indirect trading links which Kufa had at one time. It is estimated the hoard was buried in the beginning of the 12th century, when Kufa was already long past the peak of its fortunes, but the coins might have arrived at the far north at a much earlier time.

Kufa began to come under constant attack in the 11th century and eventually shrank and lost its importance. Over the last century, the population of Kufa began to grow again. It continues to be an important pilgrimage site for

Shi'ite Muslims.[citation needed
]

Geography

Kufa is located on the banks of the

Euphrates River.[1] It is 170 kilometres (110 mi) south of Baghdad, and 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) northeast of Najaf
.

Religious significance

See also:
Iraq in the Quran

The town has produced several Shi'ite Muslim scholars.[6] It also contains buildings of importance to Shi'ites:

People related to Kufa

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Djaït, Hichem (24 April 2012). "al-Kūfa". Encyclopaedia of Islam (2 ed.). Leiden: Brill Publishers. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  2. ^ Tareekh e Tabri, vol 3 page 52.
  3. ^ History of the Jews, Heinrich Graetz, Vol 3. Page 84, Trans. Bella Lowy, London 1892.
  4. ISSN 1570-6893
    . Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  5. ^ Nosov, E.N (1992). "THE ARKHANGELSK HOARD" (PDF). sarks.fi.
  6. ^ The United States Army in Operation Iraqi Freedom, p 330, Donald P. Wright, Timothy R. Reese

Bibliography

  • Crone, Patricia. Roman, Provincial and Islamic Law: The Origins of the Islamic Patronate. Cambridge University Press, paperback ed. 2002
  • Hallaq, Wael. The Origins and Evolution of Islamic Law. Cambridge University Press, 2005
  • Hawting, Gerald R. The First Dynasty of Islam. Routledge. 2nd ed, 2000
  • Hinds, Martin. Studies in Early Islamic History. Darwin Press, 1997
  • Hoyland, Robert G. Seeing Islam as Others Saw It. Darwin Press, 1997
  • Tillier, Mathieu. Les cadis d'Iraq et l'Etat abbasside (132/750-334/945). Institut Français du Proche-Orient, 2009

External links

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