Al-Rusafa or Al-Rasafa ( ar, ٱلرُّصَافَة \ ٱلرَّصَافَة, Ar-Ruṣāfah / Ar-Raṣāfah) is one of the nine administrative districts in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

, on the eastern side of the

River Tigris The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the P ...

(on the west side of which is Al- Karkh). It is one of the old quarters of Baghdad, situated in the heart of the city, and is home to a number of public squares housing important monumental artworks.

Description

This district is an older area on the eastern side of Baghdad; its central

commercial area Commercial areas in a city are areas, districts, or neighborhoods primarily composed of commercial buildings, such as a strip mall, office parks, downtown, central business district, financial district, " Main Street", or shopping centers. ...

, a centre of markets considered one of the four old central business districts of

(Karkh, Rusafa,

Adhamiyah Al-Adhamiyah ( ar, الأعظمية, ''al-aʿẓamiyyah''; BGN: ''Al A‘z̧amīyah''), also Azamiya, is a neighborhood and east-central district of the city of Baghdad, Iraq. It is one of nine administrative districts in Baghdad. Adhamiyah n ...

and

Kadhimiya Kadhimiya ( ar, ٱلْكَاظِمِيَّة, al-Kāẓimiyyah, ) or Kadhimayn (, ) is a northern neighbourhood of the city of Baghdad, Iraq. It is about from the city's center, on the west bank of the Tigris. 'Kadhimiya' is also the name of on ...

). It includes many urban features which have become landmarks including

Firdos Square Firdos Square ( ar, ساحة الفردوس, Sāḥat al-Firdaus) is a public open space in central Baghdad, Iraq. It is named after the Arabic word ''Firdows'', which means "paradise". The site has been the location of several monumental artworks ...

and Liberation Square, the biggest landmark in

and one of the most visited. It has also been home to a number of monumental

artworks A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literatur ...

including the ''Monument to the Unknown Soldier'' (1959–2002) designed by local architect, Rifat Chadirji; a statue of

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutio ...

(2002–2003) by local sculptor Khalid Ezzat, which was replaced by ''Freedom'' by local sculptor

Bassem Hamad al-Dawiri Bassem Hamad al-Dawiri (died 19 September 2007) was an Iraqi sculptor and artist. He helped create a Baghdad artist association, called the " Survivors' Group" following the fall of the Saddam Hussein government in 2003. Life and career Al-Dawi ...

, all located in Firdos Square. The Freedom Monument (''Nasb al-Hurriyah''), a work by architect Rifat Chadirji and sculptor

Jawad Saleem Jewad Selim (1919–1961) ( ar, جواد سليم) was an Iraqi painter and sculptor born in Ankara, Ottoman Empire in 1919. He became an influential artist through his involvement with the Iraqi Baghdad Modern Art Group, which encouraged artists ...

is Baghdad's most iconic work, and is situated in Liberation Square. The sculpture of ''Shahriyar and Scheherazade'' by sculptor

Mohammed Ghani Hikmat Mohammad Ghani Hikmat (April 20, 1929 – September 12, 2011) ( ar, محمد غني حكمت) was an Iraqi sculptor and artist credited with creating some of Baghdad's highest-profile sculptures and monuments and was known as the "sheik of sculpt ...

, situated on the banks of the Tigris River near Abu Nuwas Street, is another example of Iraqi art featured in the area.Al-Khalil, S. and Makiya, K., ''The Monument: Art, Vulgarity, and Responsibility in Iraq,'' University of California Press, 1991, p. 74 Neighbourhoods of Rusafa district include

Bab Al-Moatham Bab Al-Moatham (Bab Al-Muadham or Bab Al-Mu'azzam) is a neighborhood of the Rusafa district of Baghdad, Iraq, not far east of the Tigris River. It is the location of the Iraq National Library and Archive, a campus of the University of Baghdad, ...

and

Al-Sa'adoon Al-Sa'adoon is a neighborhood in the Rusafa District of Baghdad, Iraq. Sa'adoon {{Iraq-geo-stub ...

Imam Ahmad Bin Hanbal Mosque

The Imam Ahmad Bin Hanbal Shrine ( ar, مَسْجِد ٱلْإِمَام أَحْمَد بِن حَنۢبَل, Masjid Al-Imām Aḥmad Bin Ḥanbal) is a mosque in Al-Rusafah that contains the '' qabr'' (grave) of

Ahmad ibn Hanbal Ahmad ibn Hanbal al-Dhuhli ( ar, أَحْمَد بْن حَنْبَل الذهلي, translit=Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal al-Dhuhlī; November 780 – 2 August 855 CE/164–241 AH), was a Muslim jurist, theologian, ascetic, hadith traditionist, and ...

, a

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a dis ...

Imam Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, serve ...

of ''

Fiqh ''Fiqh'' (; ar, فقه ) is Islamic jurisprudence. Muhammad-> Companions-> Followers-> Fiqh. The commands and prohibitions chosen by God were revealed through the agency of the Prophet in both the Quran and the Sunnah (words, deeds, and e ...

'' (

Jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning ...

). It is managed by the

Sunni Endowment Office The Sunni Endowment Office is an Iraqi administration created by the Iraqi Governing Council after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003. It was created from the dissolution of the ''Ministry of Awqaf and religious Affairs'' in former Baath rule, sep ...

of Iraq.

Mausoleum of Abdul-Qadir Gilani

Another prominent shrine in this district is

that ''That'' is an English language word used for several grammatical purposes. These include use as an adjective, conjunction, pronoun, adverb, and intensifier; it has distance from the speaker, as opposed to words like ''this''. The word did not ori ...

of the Hanbali

Sufi Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Or ...

Abdul Qadir Gilani ʿAbdul Qādir Gīlānī, ( ar, عبدالقادر الجيلاني, ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī; fa, ) known by admirers as Muḥyī l-Dīn Abū Muḥammad b. Abū Sāliḥ ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī al-Baḡdādī al-Ḥasanī al-Ḥusayn ...

, who founded the

Qadiriyya The Qadiriyya (), also transliterated Qādirīyah, ''Qadri'', ''Qadriya'', ''Kadri'', ''Elkadri'', ''Elkadry'', ''Aladray'', ''Alkadrie'', ''Adray'', ''Kadray'', ''Kadiri'', ''Qadiri'', ''Quadri'' or ''Qadri'' are members of the Sunni Qadiri ...

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...

References

External links

Public Domain army.mil shots of "Clearing Rusafa"

Imam Ahmad Mosque