Wadi-us-Salaam

Wadi-us-Salaam cemetery
Wadi-us-Salaam cemetery
وادي السلام (Valley of Peace)
	Aerial photograph of most of the whole cemetery.
	Wadi-us-Salaam cemetery
Details
Location	2894+CR4, Najaf, Najaf Governorate, Iraq
Country	Iraq
Coordinates	32°01′02″N 44°17′51″E / 32.01722°N 44.29750°E

Wadi-us-Salaam (Arabic: ‏وادي السلام‎, romanized: Wādī s-Salām, Arabic pronunciation: [ˈwaːdi‿s.saˈlaːm], lit. 'Valley of Peace') is an Islamic cemetery, located in the holy city of Najaf, Iraq. It is the largest cemetery in the world.^[1]^[2] The cemetery covers 1,485.5 acres (601.16 ha; 6.01 km²; 2.32 sq mi) and contains more than 6 million bodies.^[3] It also attracts millions of pilgrims annually.^[4]

The cemetery is located near the shrine of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth Sunni Caliph, as well as the first Shia Imam.^[5] Thus, many Shi'ites in Iraq request that they be buried in this cemetery.^[5] As a result of improved transportation methods, Shi'ites from across the globe are (or seek to be) buried in the cemetery. However, to be buried at the cemetery, one has to be interred inside one of the shared crypts in the cemetery.^[6]

^ Hala Mundhir Fattah; Frank Caso (2009). A brief history of Iraq. Infobase Publishing. p. 140. ISBN 978-0816057672. Archived from the original on 1 January 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2010.
^ "The world's biggest cemetery". BBC News. 2016-06-12. Archived from the original on 2021-04-16. Retrieved 2022-06-27.
^ How Big is Wadi-Us-Salaam Cemetery? Archived 2015-04-25 at the Wayback Machine, washingtonmonthly.com.
^ Anthony Ham (2010). Middle East. Lonely Planet. p. 224. ISBN 978-1742203591.
^ ^a ^b Cite error: The named reference USATODAY was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Qassem Fayyad (19 September 2012). "Wadi al-Salam: A Cemetery to Cleanse Sins". Al-Akhbar English. Archived from the original on 26 January 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2015.

[FattahCaso2009-1] Hala Mundhir Fattah; Frank Caso (2009). A brief history of Iraq. Infobase Publishing. p. 140. ISBN 978-0816057672. Archived from the original on 1 January 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2010.

[2] "The world's biggest cemetery". BBC News. 2016-06-12. Archived from the original on 2021-04-16. Retrieved 2022-06-27.

[3] How Big is Wadi-Us-Salaam Cemetery? Archived 2015-04-25 at the Wayback Machine, washingtonmonthly.com.

[4] Anthony Ham (2010). Middle East. Lonely Planet. p. 224. ISBN 978-1742203591.

[USATODAY-5] Cite error: The named reference USATODAY was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Al-Akhbar_English-6] Qassem Fayyad (19 September 2012). "Wadi al-Salam: A Cemetery to Cleanse Sins". Al-Akhbar English. Archived from the original on 26 January 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2015.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]