2006 al-Askari mosque bombing

This article is about the bombing that took place in 2006. For the later bombing see 2007 al-Askari Mosque bombing

The 2006 al-Askari mosque bombing occurred at the al-Askari mosque in the Iraqi city of Samarra, on February 22, 2006, at about 6:44 a.m. local time (0344 UTC). The attack on the mosque, one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam, is not claimed by any group; U.S. President George W. Bush suggested that "the evidence indicates" that is was "an Al Qaida plot". The mosque was severely damaged, but no injuries occurred in the blasts.

The bombing was followed by retaliatory violence with over a hundred dead bodies being found the next day and well over 1,000 people killed in the days following the bombing – by some counts, over 1,000 on the first day alone.

The bombing

On February 22, 2006, at 6:44 a.m. (0344 UTC), explosions occurred at al-Askari Mosque, effectively destroying its golden dome and severely damaging the mosque. Several men wearing military uniforms, had earlier entered the mosque, tied up the guards there and set explosives, resulting in the blast. Two bombs were set off by five to seven men dressed as personnel of the Iraqi special forces who entered the shrine during the morning.

Shia Islam

Shia (/ˈʃiːə/; Arabic: شيعة‎ Shīʿah), an abbreviation of Shīʻatu ʻAlī (شيعة علي, "followers of Ali"), is a branch of Islam which holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad's proper successor as Caliph was his son-in-law and cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib. Shia Islam primarily contrasts with Sunni Islam, whose adherents believe that Muhammad's father-in-law Abu Bakr was his proper successor.

Adherents of Shia Islam are called Shias or the Shi'a as a collective or Shi'i individually. Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam: in 2009, Shia Muslims constituted 10–13% of the world's Muslim population.Twelver Shia (Ithnā'ashariyyah) is the largest branch of Shia Islam. In 2012 it was estimated that perhaps 85 percent of Shias were Twelvers.

Shia Islam is based on the Quran and the message of the Islamic prophet Muhammad attested in hadith recorded by the Shia, and certain books deemed sacred to the Shia (Nahj al-Balagha). Shia consider Ali to have been divinely appointed as the successor to Muhammad, and as the first Imam. The Shia also extend this "Imami" doctrine to Muhammad's family, the Ahl al-Bayt ("the People of the House"), and certain individuals among his descendants, known as Imams, who they believe possess special spiritual and political authority over the community, infallibility, and other divinely-ordained traits. Although there are myriad Shia subsects, modern Shia Islam has been divided into three main groupings: Twelvers, Ismailis and Zaidis, with Twelver Shia being the largest and most influential group among Shia.

Samarra

Coordinates: 34°11′54″N 43°52′27″E / 34.19833°N 43.87417°E / 34.19833; 43.87417

Sāmarrā (Arabic: سامَرّاء‎) is a city in Iraq. It stands on the east bank of the Tigris in the Saladin Governorate, 125 kilometers (78 mi) north of Baghdad. In 2003 the city had an estimated population of 348,700. Samarra is in the Sunni Triangle.

The city was once the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate and the only remaining Islamic capital that retains its original plan, architecture and artistic relics. In 2007, UNESCO named Samarra one of its World Heritage Sites.

History

Ancient Samarra

The remains of prehistoric Samarra were first excavated between 1911 and 1914 by the German archaeologist Ernst Herzfeld. Samarra became the type site for the Samarra culture. Since 1946, the notebooks, letters, unpublished excavation reports and photographs have been in the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

The civilization flourished alongside the Ubaid period, as one of the first town states in the Near East. It lasted from 5,500 BCE and eventually collapsed in 3,900 BCE.

Iraq

Coordinates: 33°N 44°E / 33°N 44°E / 33; 44

Iraq (/ɪˈræk/, ⁱ/ɪˈrɑːk/, or /aɪˈræk/; Arabic: العراق‎ al-‘Irāq, Kurdish: Êraq), officially the Republic of Iraq (Arabic:  جمهورية العراق  Jumhūrīyat al-‘Irāq; Kurdish: كۆماری عێراق‎ Komar-i ‘Êraq), is a country in Western Asia. The country borders Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, Kuwait to the southeast, Saudi Arabia to the south, Jordan to the southwest, and Syria to the west. The southern part of Iraq is within the Arabian Peninsula. The capital, Baghdad, is in the centre of the country and its largest city. The largest ethnic groups in Iraq are Arabs and Kurds. Other ethnic groups include Assyrians, Turkmen, Shabakis, Yazidis, Armenians, Mandeans, Circassians, and Kawliya. Around 95% of the country's 36 million citizens are Shia or Sunni Muslims, with Christianity, Yarsan, Yezidism, and Mandeanism also present.

Iraq has a narrow section of coastline measuring 58 km (36 mi) on the northern Persian Gulf and its territory encompasses the Mesopotamian Alluvial Plain, the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, and the eastern part of the Syrian Desert. Two major rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, run south through the centre of Iraq and flow into the Shatt al-Arab near the Persian Gulf. These rivers provide Iraq with significant amounts of fertile land.

Sunni Islam

Sunni Islam (/ˈsuːni/ or /ˈsʊni/) is a denomination of Islam which holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad's first Caliph was his father-in-law Abu Bakr. Sunni Islam primarily contrasts with Shi'a Islam, which holds that Muhammad's son-in-law and cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib, not Abu Bakr, was his first caliph. Sunni Islam is by far the largest denomination of Islam. As of 2009, Sunni Muslims constituted 87–90% of the world's Muslim population. Its adherents are referred to in Arabic as ahl as-sunnah wa l-jamāʻah (Arabic: أهل السنة والجماعة‎), "people of the tradition of Muhammad and the consensus of the Ummah" or ahl as-sunnah (Arabic أهل السنة) for short. In English, its theological study or doctrine is called Sunnism, while adherents are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis, Sunnites and Ahlus Sunnah. Sunni Islam is the world's largest religious denomination, followed by Roman Catholicism. Sunni Islam is sometimes referred to as "orthodox Islam". The word "Sunni" comes from the term Sunnah (Arabic سنة), which refers to the sayings and actions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad as recorded in the hadith.