Hillah
Sayyid Radi al-Din Ali ibn Musa ibn Tawus (589–664 AH) was born in Hillah into a family of sayyids descended from Sayyiduna al-Hasan, and became one of the…
Sayyid Radi al-Din Ali ibn Musa ibn Tawus (589–664 AH) was born in Hillah into a family of sayyids descended from Sayyiduna al-Hasan, and became one of the best-known scholars of supplication and ziyara. His works include al-Iqbal on the devotions of the year, Muhaj al-Da'awat on supplication, Kashf al-Mahajja, written as counsel to his son, and al-Luhuf on the events of Karbala. He lived for many years in Baghdad, where late in life he served as naqib of the Talibids, and he died there in 664 AH (1266). This domed shrine in the centre of Hillah has long been honoured by the city as his grave. Biographers also record that he had wished to be buried in Najaf near the shrine of Imam Ali, and some later scholars attributed the Hillah shrine to his son, also named Ali; Hillah has kept it in his name. Its entrance, under a tiled sign bearing his name, opens onto a courtyard and prayer hall, and the shrine has been under restoration in recent years.