happened in later times, for Islam was then still strong and vigorous. During the time of the Companions, their successors, and the generation after them, none of this existed in the Muslim lands—not in the Hijaz, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Khurāsān, or the Maghreb. No shrine whatsoever had been erected over the grave of a prophet, a Companion, a member of the Prophet’s household, or a righteous person. Rather, these shrines were generally established later. They emerged and spread when the Abbasid caliphate weakened, the Muslim community became divided, heretics who deceived Muslims grew numerous among them, and the teachings of the people of religious innovation became widespread. This began during the reign of al-Muqtadir, toward the end of the third century AH. It was then that the ‘Ubaydī-Qaddāhī Qarmatians emerged in the Maghreb. They subsequently came to Egypt.
It is said that unlawful levies were introduced in the Muslim lands around that time. The Buyids also emerged around then, and many of them harbored heresy and grave religious innovations.
During their rule, the descendants of ‘Ubayd al-Qaddāh grew powerful in Egypt. It was also during their rule that the shrine attributed to ‘Alī, may Allah be pleased with him, near Najaf was made known. Before that, no one had said that ‘Alī’s grave was there. Rather, ‘Alī, may Allah be pleased with him, was buried in the governor’s palace in Kufa. All that they mentioned was that one of them related that al-Rashīd had come to a spot there and begun apologizing to the person buried in it. They said that this was ‘Alī and that he had apologized to him for what he had done to his descendants. Thus they said, “This is ‘Alī’s grave.” Some people have said