Najaf

Najaf, in central Iraq near Kufa, grew around the shrine traditionally identified as the tomb of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the first Shi'i imam, and is one of the holiest cities of Shi'i Islam. Its hawza is a leading centre of Twelver scholarship; Shaykh al-Tusi (d. 1067) relocated his school there in the 11th century, and many of the jurists connected here studied or taught in the city.