“Kufa; Capital of Islamic Government” Int’l Festival Planned in Iraq
According to the information website of Alawi holy shrine, the organization of the festival was discussed in a meeting of the custodians of Imam Ali’s (AS) holy shrine and officials of the Great Mosque of Kufa.
Zuhair Shurbah, deputy custodian of Alawi holy shrine’s custodianship, said that the participants at the meeting discussed the specialized programs of the festival which are due to begin on 12th of Rajab month (May 1, 2015), concurrent with the anniversary of Imam Ali’s arrival in Kufa.
The opening ceremony, a forum on intellectual researches, competitions on poetry, Tajweed principles and Quranic sciences, writing books, calligraphy, illumination, and a book exhibition are the various parts of the festival.
Shurbah added that the festival is an opportunity to promote the skills of authors, poets and researchers to provide the society with valuable works and authentic studies on why Kufa was selected as the capital of Islamic government.
A specialized forum on Nahjul Balaqa of Imam Ali (AS) has also been planned as another part of the festival.
Kufa is a city in Iraq, about 170 kilometres (110 mi) south of Baghdad, and 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) northeast of Najaf. It is located on the banks of the Euphrates River.
Along with Samarra, Karbala, Kadhimiya and Najaf, Kufa is one of five Iraqi cities that are of great importance to Shiite Muslims. The city was the final capital of Imam Ali (AS) and was founded within the first hundred years of the 622 Hijra. The town has produced several Shia scholars.
The city contains the Great Mosque of Kufa, or Masjid-al-Azam is one of the earliest mosques in Islam, built in the 7th century. It contains the remains of Muslim ibn ‘Aqīl - first cousin of Husayn ibn ‘Alī, his companion Hānī ibn ‘Urwa, and the revolutionary Mukhtār al-Thaqafī.
