A Brief History of the Dome of the Graves of the Imams (AS) Buried in the Baqī Cemetery

The shrine of the Imams (AS) buried in the Baqī Cemetery, which includes the holy graves of the four infallible Shiite Imams (including Imam Hassan Mujtaba, Imam Zayn al-Abedin, Imam Muhammad Baqir, and Imam Ja'far Sadiq (AS)), is one of the most important pilgrimage destinations for Muslims in Medina. Until less than a hundred years ago, there was a large building and a dome on these tombs which was among the most prominent architectural structures in Medina. Based on original and first-hand historical and geographical references, a brief history of the dome of the graves of the Imams buried in the Baqī Cemetery, including the determination of the date of the construction and its developments and reconstructions in later periods, is provided in this article. The results of this research indicate that the tombs of the Imams buried in Baqī did not have a building until the 5th century AH and the first dome on these tombs was built at the end of this century by the order of Majd al-Mulk Baravestani Qomi (d. 492 AH). The most important architectural developments of this building in the following periods were its first and second destruction by the Wahhabis and its reconstruction in the Ottoman period after the first destruction.