Wadi Al-Salam Cemetery - A Socio- anthropological Study in the City of Najaf

Salwan Fawzi Abd baqli Al-obeydi
Keywords: The cemetery, Wadi Al-Salam, Najaf Al-Ashraf, Al-Dafan, the group of actors within the study community ,

Abstract

The topic of the study revolves around the study of one of the historical, religious and cultural landmarks among the inhabitants of the Middle Euphrates and southern Iraq, because of its important religious importance in the beliefs of the Shiites of Iraq, which is the cemetery of Wadi Al-Salam in the holy city of Najaf, which is located in the northeastern part of the city of Najaf, where the shrine of the Commander of the Faithful, Ali Ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him), the cousin of the Noble Messenger Muhammad Ibn Abdullah (may God’s prayers and peace be upon him and his family) and his guardian, is located, in front of the Shiites, as it is the only place where the Shiites of Iraq in particular and the Shiites of the world in general have buried their dead there hundreds of years ago until the present time, through the anthropological study of the study community carried out by the researcher, he studied the Wadi Al-Salam cemetery as a social building that consists of a group of actors inside the cemetery, namely the burial offices, and their assistants, water and creek sellers, itinerant people of different ages and genders, tuk-tuk drivers and stoats inside the cemetery, in addition to the blacksmithing and construction offices, the researcher conducted field interviews with these actors within the study community, and used the cognitive approach to get answers to the study questions, also, to arrive at a comprehensive and integrated description of the social structure of the study community and the interrelationship between the actors in the study community.