Great Mosque of Kufa

The Great Mosque of Kufa (Arabic: مَسْجِد ٱلْكُوفَة, romanized: Masjid al-Kūfa) is one of the earliest surviving mosques in the world, located in Kufa, Iraq. The mosque was founded in 638 AD and later rebuilt and expanded. A holy site in Shia Islam, it is the place where Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, the first Shia Imam and the fourth Sunni Rashidun caliph, lived and led prayers. Ali was assassinated in 661 during the month of Ramadan by the Kharijite dissident Ibn Muljam, who struck him on the head with a poison-coated sword while he was praying in the mihrab of the Great Mosque of Kufa.

The mosque also contains the shrines of Muslim ibn Aqil, Hani ibn Urwa, and al-Mukhtar, making it an important pilgrimage site for Shia Muslims.