Masjid al-Ḥannāna — also known as the Mosque of the Head ( Masjid al-Raʾs ) — stands on the road between Kufa and Najaf, near the grave of Kumayl ibn Ziyād.…
Masjid al-Ḥannāna — also known as the Mosque of the Head ( Masjid al-Raʾs ) — stands on the road between Kufa and Najaf, near the grave of Kumayl ibn Ziyād. Its name, meaning "the one that mourns" or "the one that weeps twice," reflects the two profound moments in the history of the Ahl al-Bayt that are associated with this site. The first is the funeral procession of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, when his sons al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn were carrying his body from Kufa toward Najaf. As the procession passed, a pillar of the mosque is said to have leaned toward the bier in grief — inclining as if paying its final respects to the one who had been buried and prayed within it for so long. The second is the return of the captives after Karbala, when the severed head of al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī was brought to rest at this spot on the road to Kufa. It is said that a sound like the cry of a young camel separated from its mother was heard at that moment. Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq is reported to have stopped here whenever he passed between Kufa and Najaf, and when asked why, he would say simply: "They placed the head of my grandfather here." The mosque's construction in its current form is attributed to the Buyid period, around 462 AH, and it sits on a site of approximately 7,400 square metres. It remains an active place of visitation and prayer, carrying within it the memory of two of the most sorrowful passages in early Islamic history.