Imam Azam Abu Hanifa, who died in Baghdad in 150 (767), was buried in the district known today as Azamiye, in reference to his title of Azam, and a mudbrick tomb was built over his grave. The Seljuk Vizier Sharaf al-Mulk Abu Said al-Khwarizmi had a tomb built over his grave in 459 (1067) and a madrasah built next to it. The tomb had a Seljuk-style domed structure with a muqarnas cap that could be seen from afar. The madrasah was opened on 27 Jumada al-Akhir 459 (15 May 1067), four months and thirteen days before Nizamiye, and became the first Seljuk madrasah to be established in Baghdad.

After Shah Ismail invaded Baghdad, the Imam-i Azam Mausoleum and the madrasah were rebuilt by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1534 with the addition of a mosque, soup kitchen, ribat and bathhouse. The Imam-i Azam Complex, which is surrounded by walls on an area of ​​50.000 square meters, is included in one of the lists showing the works of Mimar Sinan, but since it has been crossed out, Mimar Sinan's connection with this work is doubtful. Damaged a second time during Shah Abbas's invasion, the Imam-i Azam Mausoleum was rebuilt during Sultan Murad IV's Baghdad campaign in 1639. The crumbling tiles of the complex and the gold-plated cone of the minaret were repaired by Süleyman Pasha in 1802, the mosque in 1816 by Davud Pasha, and the tomb in 1839 by Sultan Abdülmecid. The entire complex was rebuilt by Pertevniyal Valide Sultan in 1871 and by Sultan Abdülhamid II between 1903 and 1910. The Azamiye Complex, which has regular staff due to its rich foundations, was also gifted with many valuable items such as oil lamps, candlesticks, and carpets. In the repairs carried out by the Iraqi government in 1948 and 1959, some changes were made to the architecture and decoration, and the city walls surrounding the complex, the portals, the madrasah, the soup kitchen, the bathhouse, and the western porticoes were demolished and replaced with new courtyard walls in a modern style, two symbolic portals, and additional buildings.

 

Encyclopedia of Islam, Azamiye Complex

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