At a glance
- Era
- The Buyid, Fatimid and Seljuk Era
- Region
- Levant & Iraq
- Review
- Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it
In time
In space
Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph
Summary
In the year 389 AH a celebration described as an innovation (bidʿa) was introduced in Baghdad and named "the Day of the Cave" (Yawm al-Ghar). The common people (al-ʿamma) made it a counterpart to the Day of Ghadir, which the Shiʿa celebrated in Karkh and Bab al-Taq. 1
The counter to the Day of Ghadir
Ibn al-Jawzi reports that it had become the custom of the Shiʿa of Karkh and Bab al-Taq to set up domes, hang cloths and display decorations on the Day of Ghadir, to light fires on its night and to slaughter a camel on its morning. The other group wanted to answer this, so they claimed that the eighth day from the Day of Ghadir was the day the Prophet was in the cave with Abu Bakr, and they did on it the same as the Shiʿa did on the Day of Ghadir. 2
The Day of Musʿab
They set against ʿAshura a day eight days after it, attributing it to the killing of Musʿab ibn al-Zubayr; they visited his grave at Maskin as the grave of al-Husayn is visited. The Day of the Cave began on a Friday, four days before the end of Dhu al-Hijja. 2
Connections
- Located in
- Baghdad
- Related to
- Mus'ab ibn al-Zubayr
People and things also explored
The Nizamiyya Madrasa of Baghdad· Bayt al-Hikma — the House of Wisdom· The 'Adudi Bimaristan· al-Bimaristan al-Muqtadiri· Bimaristan al-Sayyida· Dar al-'Ilm of Baghdad (Sabur's library)· The Jami' al-Qati'a of Baghdad· The mosque of Qati'at Umm Ja'far
Sources
- al-Muntazam fi Tarikh al-Muluk wa'l-Umam — Ibn al-Jawzi , j.7 p.209-210
- al-Muntazam fi Tarikh al-Muluk wa'l-Umam — Ibn al-Jawzi , j.7 p.210
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “The Establishment of the Day of the Cave in Baghdad as a Counterpart to the Day of Ghadir”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/yawm-al-ghar-389/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.