Shrine of Fatimah al-Masuma - Qum
People flock to the shrine of Fatimah Masuma in Qom to gain spiritual guidance and they also pay their respect to this holy lady. Due to security concerns, no one is allowed to bring their bags inside. Instead, one can deposit their bags inside small kiosks, locally known as amantdari. To respect the religious traditions, Men and women have separate entry doors.
The shrine of Fatimah bint Musa al-Kadhim is also known as Fatimah al-Masumah or Haram-e Masuma-e Qum. Hazrat Fatimah was born on March 22, 790 in Medina and she was the sister of 8th Imam Ali Raza.
She was traveling to meet her brother Imam Ali Raza buy unfortunately, the caravan she was traveling with was attacked by an Abbasid contingent. Fatemeh was taken prisoner and poisoned shortly afterward. As her health deteriorated, she requested to be taken to Qom, where she died there on November 9, 816.
The Abbasid Caliphate was against the Shiite Imam and her father was prisoned by Harun al-Rashid. This was one of the reasons she had to leave Medina.
The main mosque consists of a burial chamber, three courtyards and three large prayer halls. There is a central courtyard which has beautiful doors. This shrine complex covers totalling an area of 38,000 m2 (410,000 sq ft). In the past, this shrine had gone through many changes and it keeps expanding in order to facilitate the visitors.
Qom is also the birthplace of Ayatollah Khomeini (leader of the Iranian 1979 Revolution). He studied and Qom and lived there during the revolution.
Qom is famous for its delicious Sohn sweet, many shops sell this sweet around the shrine of Fatimah Masuma. Sohan-e Qom is a traditional Persian confectionery. In taste it is Buttery and crunchy, to top it up, it is with saffron. This sweet tastes very good and there is no better place than Qom to buy it.
