SHAFAQNA- The Bratha Grand Mosque is one of the historic Shia Mosques in Iraq, where the house of Lady Maryam (S.A) was located and Imam Ali (A.S) also lived in this place.
The Bratha Grand Mosque translates to the Aramaic word Baritha meaning “exterior.” The Bratha Grand Mosque is considered a holy Mosque by Shias. The Mosque is located in the Karkh area, in the western part of Baghdad, south of the Bab Al-Muhawal neighborhood. The Mosque was originally located in a village about 3 km from the center of historic Baghdad, which became a neighborhood along with the establishment and development of Baghdad.
The Bratha Grand Mosque is one of the famous places for Muslims and Allameh Majlisi quotes about the virtue of this mosque and its historical background, in which the house of Hazrat Maryam (AS) and the land of Jesus (AS) were located and the spring The place that God made for Hazrat Maryam (SA) was in this place and Hazrat Amir Al-Mu’minin (AS) miraculously showed it again.
After the birth of Jesus (AS) in this place, Hazrat Maryam (SA) placed him on a stone and Imam Ali (AS) miraculously revealed this stone and placed it in the Qibla of the Mosque. In other narrations, it is stated that the tomb of a prophet is located in this place and the late Muhaddith Qomi says: Maybe that prophet is Hazrat Joshua (AS). It is also stated in the narrations: This mosque was the residence of Imam Ali (AS) and Imam Ali (AS) prayed in this place when he returned from the battle of Nahrawan.
In this Mosque, there is an old piece of stone on which the inscriptions go back to pre-Islamic history and show that this place was before this temple. The exact date of construction of the Mosque is not known, but some sources say that this mosque was established in 37 AH and some have attributed its construction to Imam Ali (AS). The Bratha Grand Mosque has been renovated many times. This Mosque was renovated once in 1070 AH and once in 1352 AH. This Mosque has two minarets that were built in 1996.
In the building of this Mosque, plaster and bricks are used and its roof is made of teak wood. The current area of the Bratha Grand Mosque, after development and reconstruction, reached about four thousand square meters. The Mosque has centers, scientific and cultural institutions and a library that was established in the 60s of the last century and now has more than 21,000 books in various fields.
One of the most important activities of this mosque is holding religious occasions, birth celebrations and mourning ceremonies of the Imams, peace be upon them, and the ceremonies of mid-Sha’ban, Tasua and Ashura ceremonies of Husseini and the revival ceremony of the holy month of Ramadan are also held in this mosque.
This news was originally published by Shia News and translated by SHAFAQNA English.
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