Jamkaran
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| Jamkaran Mosque | |
The Jamkaran Mosque in Jamkaran, Iran |
|
| Basic information | |
|---|---|
| Location | Jamkaran, Iran |
| Religious affiliation | Shia Islam |
| Province | Qom |
| Ecclesiastical status | Mosque |
| Website | Official Website of Jamkaran Mosque |
| Architectural description | |
| Architectural style | Islamic |
| Specifications | |
| Dome(s) | 3 |
| Minaret(s) | 2 |
Jamkaran, Iran (on the outskirts of Qom) is the site of the Jamkaran Mosque, a popular pilgrimage site for Shi'ite Muslims. Local belief has it that the Twelfth Imam - a messiah figure Shia believe will will lead the world to an era of universal peace - once appeared and offered prayers at Jamkaran. This belief has been compared to that of Catholics who believe that the Virgin Mary appeared to three shepard children in Fatima, Portugal in 1917.[1]
The mosque, six kilometres east of Qum, has long been a sacred place, at least since 373 A.H., 17th of Ramdan (22 February 984 C.E.), when according to the mosque website, one Sheikh Hassan ibn Muthlih Jamkarani is reported to have met Imam Al-Mahdi along with prophet Al-Khidr. He was instructed that the site where the three met was "noble" and that the owner, Hasan bin Muslim, was to cease cultivating it and use his earning from farming the sacred land to pay for a mosque to be erected there.[2][3]
Sometime in decade of 1995-2005, the mosque's reputation spread, and many pilgrims, particularly young people, began to come to it. In the rear of the mosque there is a "well of requests" where it is believed the Twelfth Imam once "became miraculously unhidden for a brief shining moment of loving communion with his Creator." Pilgrims tie small strings in a knot around the grids covering the holy well, which they hope will be received by the Imam Mahdi. Every morning custodians cut off the strings from the previous day.[1] There is a significant body of Shia writing arguing that the Imam Mahdi is hidden but active in the world helping those who are needy.[citation needed] Every Tuesday evenings the mosque kitchen provides a free meal to thousands of poor people.[1]
One of the first acts of the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was to donate £10 million to the mosque, to fund plans to turn "the tiny Jamkaran mosque into a massive complex of prayer halls, minarets, car parks and ablutions."[4]
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c Nasr, Vali, The Shia Revival, (Norton, 2006), p.220
- ^ English (click on "Brief History")
- ^ History of Jamkaran Mosque
- ^ 'Divine mission' driving Iran's new leader - Telegraph 15/01/2006
[edit] External links
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