Second construction of Imam Hussain Holy Shrine
The Abbasid caliph, al-Ma’moon, tried to establish good relations with the Alawis, for political reasons, when he
crowned Imam Ali al-Ridha as the prince of Khurasan. He feigned a coalition with them, as they were the rightful heirs
to the caliphate. In 193 A.H., al-Ma’moon replaced the Abbasid motto with the Alawi motto and gave commands
to build the Imam Hussain shrine allowing the Alawis and their followers to go about freely while visiting the holy
shrine.
During al-Ma’mun’s reign, the holy shrine was still being rebuilt until 232 A.H., when al-Mutawakkil ruled with
hostility towards against the Shiites. Later, he demanded that the holy shrines of both Abbas and Imam Hussain be
destroyed.