Sakhi Shrine
Sakhi Shrine زیارت سخی | |
---|---|
Sakhi سخی | |
Religion | |
Affiliation | Islam |
Location | |
Location | Kabul, Afghanistan |
Geographic coordinates | 34°31′12″N 69°08′48″E / 34.52000°N 69.14667°E |
Architecture | |
Type | Mosque |
Style | Islamic |
Sakhi Shah-e Mardan Shrine or Ziyarat-e Sakhi (
Design
The shrine is decorated with glazed tiles in a neo-
History and legend
It is believed that the shrine marks the spot where the
In 1181/1767-8, Ahmad Shah Durrani decided to move the cloak to his capital of Kandahar. He entrusted the move to Shah Wali Khan E'temad al-Dawla. The cloak was taken on its journey by a group of the most pious men. Kabul was on the route south from Fayzabad, and it was near the edge of the town that the group stopped to rest and allow local people to view the cloak. One day, the men carrying the cloak noticed a man wearing green praying by it. On the third night, they dreamt that the man in green came to see the cloak once more. When he removed his sword from its sheath and placed it on a nearby rock they noticed that its blade had a double tip. They recognised the sword as Zulfiqar and its owner as Imam Ali. The rock on which Ali is believed to have placed his sword is now encompassed by the shrine building. When the men awoke, they knew that a shrine should be built on this spot. Ahmad Shah patronised the building of the first structure, with one dome over the rock. The cloak remained here for eight months, before continuing its journey south to Kandahar, where it remains today. It was notably brought out of its shrine and worn by Mullah Omar in 1996.
A second dome was added to the shrine by the mother of Amanullah Khan in 1919. The four additional domes were added during renovations which took place between 2008 and 2016.[9][10]
Every year, a popular Nowruz celebration is held outside the shrine, during which a large banner is raised in remembrance of Imam Ali, who was the standard-bearer of Muhammad.
A small underground shrine can be accessed from the women's side of the building. Cut into the bed rock, a tight staircase leads down to a small cavelike chamber were women now leave petitions and votive offerings. On the men's side, there is a hand-print relic.
The shrine is visited mainly by Hazaras, a Shiʿi community. Largely due to this, the shrine has been victim to a number of significant attacks, including the March 2018 Kabul suicide bombing. In late 2021, journalists from The New York Times embedded with a six-man Taliban unit tasked with protecting the shrine from the Islamic State, noting "how seriously the men appeared to take their assignment."[11]
References
- ^ "Rawza Sakhi Shah-e-Mardan mosque, Afghanistan". Nomad's Land. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- ^ Maskanyab_Sr (7 October 2022). "Ziarat-e Sakhi (Sakhi Shrine) -Kabul Afghanistan". MaskanYab.af. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- ^ "Home Page | Farsnews Agency". www.farsnews.ir. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- ^ "Karta Sakhi shrine in Afghanistan - in pictures". The National. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- ^ "Sakhi Shrine Kabul Afghanistan Stockfoto 1349595140". Shutterstock (in German). Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- ^ "IMAGO". www.imago-images.de. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- ^ GmbH, Westend61. "Sakhi Shah-e Mardan Shrine (Ziyarat-e Sakhi), Kabul, Afghanistan, Asia stock photo". Westend61. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Shiite Muslims visit the Karti Sakhi Shrine a day before Ashoura, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday …". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- ^ This history of the cloak of Muhammad and the Sakhi shrine is taken from the history given in an inscription on the wall inside the men's side of the shrine.
- ^ "Rawza Sakhi Shah-e-Mardan mosque, Afghanistan". Nomad's Land. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- ^ Blue, Victor J.; Gibbons-Neff, Thomas; Padshah, Safiullah (28 January 2022). "On Patrol: 12 Days With a Taliban Police Unit in Kabul". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 March 2022.