Sayyidah Ruqayyah is traditionally identified as a young daughter of Imam al-Husayn ibn ʿAli (RA) and therefore a great-granddaughter of Nabi Muhammad ﷺ…
Sayyidah Ruqayyah is traditionally identified as a young daughter of Imam al-Husayn ibn ʿAli (RA) and therefore a great-granddaughter of Nabi Muhammad ﷺ through Sayyidah Fāṭimah al-Zahrāʾ and Sayyiduna ʿAli (RA). According to the well-known Damascene tradition, she was among the women and children of the Ahl al-Bayt taken from Karbala to Damascus after the martyrdom of Imam al-Husayn (RA). She died in the city while still a small child and became remembered as a symbol of innocence, suffering and patience. Precise details about her name, age and life differ between later historical traditions. Her shrine is located in the al-ʿAmārah quarter beside Bāb al-Farādīs, a short distance north of the Umayyad Mosque. The site has been associated with the Ahl al-Bayt for centuries and was repaired and expanded several times before the present complex was completed during the late twentieth century. The shrine is distinguished by its decorated courtyard, tiled façades, mirrored interior and silver enclosure surrounding the grave traditionally attributed to her, and it remains one of Damascus’s most visited places of pilgrimage.