Imam Reza shrine

The Imam Reza Shrine (Persian: حرم امام رضا, romanized: Haram-e Emâm Rezâ, lit. 'Sanctuary of Imam Reza'; Arabic: العتبة الرضوية) is the mausoleum of Ali al-Rida, the eighth Imam in Shia Islam, located in Mashhad, the province of Razavi Khorasan, Iran. As one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam, nearly 30 million Muslims making pilgrimages to the shrine every year, the most visited pilgrimage site in Islam.

Imam Reza was a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, known for his piety and learning. Born in 766 CE, his lineage traces back to Ali via Muhammad’s daughter Fatima, from their son Husayn. He is part of the chain of mystical authority in Sunni Sufism, making him widely respected in Sunni Islam as well. He is also regarded as a model of asceticism in Sufism, and the chains of authority in Shia Sufism progress through him. Uyoun Akhbar Al-Ridha have recorded miracles which have occurred at the shrine.

The shrine covers an area of 1,200,000 square meters, making it the third largest mosque in the world, after Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and the Prophet's Mosque in Medina. The Goharshad Mosque, the Astan Quds Razavi Central Museum, a museum, a library, four seminaries, a cemetery, and the Razavi University of Islamic Sciences, are also contained within the complex. The complex was added to Iran's National Heritage List on 6 January 1932, and on 2 February 2017, it was added to the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Also buried within the shrine are the members of the Timurid, Safavid and Qajar family members, alongside the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid, polymath Baha al-Din al-Amili, crown prince Abbas Mirza, and many other notable political figures, scholars, and clerics.