مسجد علي بن ابيطالب(ع) كانون فرهنكي منتظران ظهور

In the same small town of Shazand in Markazi province of Iran, the Mosque of Ali ibn Abi Talib and the Cultural Centre of Those Awaiting the Appearance gathers worshippers around the memory of the first Imam and the hope for the final coming of the Mahdi, may God hasten his noble appearance. Ali ibn Abi Talib, may peace be upon him, was the cousin and son in law of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, the fourth caliph and first Imam, a companion whose eloquence, wisdom, and courage are celebrated in the Nahj al Balagha and countless works of later scholarship. The Persian title Muntaziran Zuhur signifies those who wait for the rising, that is, the faithful preparing for the appearance of the Mahdi at the end of days.

Shazand sits amid the cereal fields and saffron gardens of central Iran, north of the great salt desert and south of the snow covered slopes of the Alborz. Its neighbourhoods share the devotional calendar of the Iranian highlands, observing the birth and martyrdom anniversaries of the Fourteen Infallibles, may God's peace be upon them, as well as the daily prayers, the fast of Ramadan, and the dua prayers of the nights of Qadr.

Architecturally the mosque follows the modest Iranian provincial idiom. A low blue tiled dome rises above a plastered prayer hall, and a single slender minaret bears turquoise tilework and a muqarnas crown. The entrance iwan is framed by lustrous cobalt and white tilework carrying verses of verses of the Qur'an and peace upon the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, and his household. Inside, the prayer hall is softly lit, the floor spread with patterned Kashan carpet, the mihrab tiled in floral arabesques, and the minbar fashioned in walnut pierced with geometric lacework.

Beyond daily prayers, the cultural centre runs youth Quran classes, calligraphy workshops, library services, and preparatory programmes for the seminaries of Qom. During Muharram and Safar the mosque fills with mourning assemblies honouring Imam Husayn and his companions at Karbala.