Karaj (Alborz) Husayniyya
Karaj Husayniyya of the Nematollahi Soltan Ali Shahi Gonabadi Sufi Order
The men's hall spans approximately 600 square meters and serves as the main venue for gatherings. The inscriptions inside the men’s section are crafted from copper sheets using a technique known as “Copper Patina Art.” In this form of artistry, calligraphic patterns are pressed from the back of the copper sheet using special tools, resulting in raised motifs on the front surface. These raised forms are then decorated with irregular brushstrokes using distinct patina colors.
Within the men’s hall, the mihrab is situated on the qibla-facing wall. At the focal point of the mihrab’s arch, the word “Allah Jalla Jalaluhu” is engraved, with “Ya Rahman” and “Ya Rahim” inscribed on either side. Above the mihrab, next to the ceiling, the word “Huwa” appears, beneath which is the number “121.” The names of the Fourteen Infallibles are inscribed horizontally, and below these names, the names of the Qutbs of the Order up to the present are listed on various columns. These names are all engraved using the same Copper Patina technique and the full list appears on the page Mystics Order.
Encircling the mihrab is an inscription of Ayat al-Kursi:
اللَّهُ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ لَا تَأْخُذُهُ سِنَةٌ وَلَا نَوْمٌ لَّهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ مَن ذَا الَّذِي يَشْفَعُ عِندَهُ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِهِ يَعْلَمُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ وَلَا يُحِيطُونَ بِشَيْءٍ مِّنْ عِلْمِهِ إِلَّا بِمَا شَاءَ وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ وَلَا يَئُودُهُ حِفْظُهُمَا وَهُوَ الْعَلِيُّ الْعَظِيمُ لَا إِكْرَاهَ فِي الدِّينِ قَد تَّبَيَّنَ الرُّشْدُ مِنَ الْغَيِّ فَمَن يَكْفُرْ بِالطَّاغُوتِ وَيُؤْمِن بِاللَّهِ فَقَدِ اسْتَمْسَكَ بِالْعُرْوَةِ الْوُثْقَى لَا انفِصَامَ لَهَا وَاللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ اللَّهُ وَلِيُّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا يُخْرِجُهُم مِّنَ الظُّلُمَاتِ إِلَى النُّورِ وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا أَوْلِيَاؤُهُمُ الطَّاغُوتُ يُخْرِجُونَهُم مِّنَ النُّورِ إِلَى الظُّلُمَاتِ أُولَئِكَ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ
Allāh - there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Self-Sustaining. Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission? He knows what is [presently] before them and what will be after them, and they encompass not a thing of His knowledge except for what He wills. His Kursī extends over the heavens and the earth, and their preservation tires Him not. And He is the Most High, the Most Great. There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] the religion. The right course has become distinct from the wrong. So whoever disbelieves in ṭāghūt and believes in Allāh has grasped the most trustworthy handhold with no break in it. And Allāh is Hearing and Knowing. Allāh is the Ally of those who believe. He brings them out from darknesses into the light. And those who disbelieve - their allies are ṭāghūt. They take them out of the light into darknesses. Those are the companions of the Fire; they will abide eternally therein.
(Quran, Ayatul Kursi, 255, 256 and 257)
In the upper left corner of the qibla wall appears the verse «يَاأَيُّهَا النَّاسُ أَنتُمُ الْفُقَرَاءُ إِلَى اللَّهِ وَاللَّهُ هُوَ الْغَنِيُّ الْحَمِيدُ» (“O mankind! It is you who are in need of Allah, while Allah is the Free of need, the Praiseworthy.” - Quran, 35:15), and its counterpart on the opposite side is «الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَتَطْمَئِنُّ قُلُوبُهُم بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ أَلَا بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوبُ» (“Those who have believed and whose hearts are assured by the remembrance of Allāh. Unquestionably, by the remembrance of Allāh hearts are assured.” - Quran, 13:28). Below both corners are inscribed the names of the martyrs of Karbala:
Abu al-Fadl Abbas ibn Ali, Ali Akbar ibn Hussain, Abdullah ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib, Ja‘far ibn Ali, Uthman ibn Ali, Abu Bakr ibn Ali, Abdullah Ali Asghar ibn Hussain, Qasim ibn Hasan, Abu Bakr ibn Hasan, Ubaydullah ibn Hasan, Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Ja‘far ibn Abi Talib, Awn ibn Abdullah, Abdullah ibn Aqil, Ja‘far ibn Aqil, Awn ibn Aqil, Abdurrahman ibn Aqil, Muhammad ibn Abi Sa‘id ibn Aqil, Muslim ibn Aqil (martyred in Kufa), Na‘im ibn ‘Ajlan, Qasit ibn Zuhayr, Imran ibn Ka‘b ibn Harith al-Ashja‘i, Hanzala ibn Amr al-Shaybani, Amr ibn Khalid al-Saydawi, Kanata ibn Atiq, Umar ibn Mushaybi‘ah, ‘Amir ibn Muslim, Durgamah ibn Malik al-Ta‘bli, Sayf ibn Malik al-Nasiri, Abdurrahman al-Arhasbi, Mujamma‘ al-‘Andi, Amr al-Jundai, Hubban ibn al-Harith, Khallas ibn Amr al-Zashi, Suwar ibn Abi Umayd al-Fahmi, Ammar ibn Abi Salamah al-Dalani, Nu‘man ibn Umar al-Rasbi, Habbalah ibn Ali al-Shaybani, Zahir ibn Amr, Mawla ibn al-Humq, Mas‘ud ibn Hajjaj al-Taymi, Abdullah ibn ‘Urwah al-Ghifari, Zuhayr ibn Bishr al-Khath‘ami, Ammar ibn Hassan al-Ta’i, Abdullah ibn ‘Umayr al-Kalbi, Muslim ibn Kathir, Zuhayr ibn Muslim, Abdullah ibn Yazid al-Qaysi al-Basri, his brother Ubaydullah ibn Yazid, Ali ibn Hurr ibn Yazid al-Riyahi, Qarra, the servant of Hurr ibn Yazid al-Riyahi, Hurr ibn Yazid al-Riyahi, Abu Abdullah Mus‘ab ibn Yazid al-Riyahi, Abdullah ibn Wahb al-Kalbi, Amr ibn Khalid al-Azdi, Sa‘id ibn Hanzalah al-Tamimi, ‘Umayr ibn Abdullah al-Madhhiji, Muslim ibn ‘Awsajah al-Asadi, Amr ibn Qurazah al-Ansari, Muhammad ibn Bashir al-Hadrami, Wahb ibn Abdullah ibn Khabbab al-Kalbi, Burayr ibn Khudhayr al-Hamdani, Tirmam ibn ‘Adi, Habib ibn Mazahir (Muzahir), Zuhayr ibn Qayn al-Bahili, Abdurrahman ibn ‘Urwah al-Ghifari, Qarra ibn Abi Qarra al-Ghifari, Sayf ibn Harith ibn Sari‘ al-Jabiri, Malik ibn Abd ibn Sari‘ al-Jabiri, Hanzalah ibn As‘ad al-Shibami, ‘Abis ibn Abi Shu‘ayb al-Shakiri, Shawdhab the servant of ‘Abis, Abu al-Sa‘tha’ Yazid ibn Muhajir, Khalid ibn Amr ibn Khalid, Abdurrahman ibn Abdullah al-Yazni, Jawn the servant of Abu Dharr al-Ghifari, Ibn Ayn Juwiyy, Anas ibn Harith, Amr ibn Muta‘ al-Ju‘fi, Hajjaj ibn Masruq al-Ju‘fi, Junadah ibn Harith, ‘Umar ibn Junadah, Qarib the servant of Hussain, Abu Amr al-Hunshali, Anas ibn al-Husayn al-Asadi, Suwayd ibn Amr ibn Abi al-Muta‘ al-Khath‘ami, Abu Namamah al-Saydawi, Yahya ibn Kathir, Suwayd ibn Amr, Hilal ibn Nafi‘.
On the western wall, the verse «إِنِّي جَاعِلٌ فِي الْأَرْضِ خَلِيفَةً» (“Indeed, I will make a vicegerent upon the earth.” - Quran, 2:30) is inscribed, and on the eastern wall, above the entrance to the men's hall, the saying of the Prophet (PBUH) «اَنَا مَدينَة ٱلْعِلْم وَ عَليٌ بٰابُها» (“I am the city of knowledge and Ali is its gate.”). Above the other entrance to the hall, the verse «قُلْ يَاأَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ تَعَالَوْا إِلَى كَلِمَةٍ سَوَاءٍ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَكُمْ أَلَّا نَعْبُدَ إِلَّا اللَّهَ وَلَا نُشْرِكَ بِهِ شَيْئًا» is displayed (“Say, O People of the Scripture, come to a word that is equitable between us and you - that we will not worship except Allāh and not associate anything with Him” - Quran, 3:64).
On all four major columns in the hall, the Divine Names — “Al-Wahhab, Al-Muhaymin, Al-Ghafur, Al-Wasi‘, Al-Wakil, Ar-Ra’uf, Al-Majid, Al-Fattah, Ar-Razzaq, Al-Kafi, Al-Hadi, Al-Batin, Al-‘Adl, Al-Qadim, Al-Mu’min, As-Sadiq, Al-Quddus, Al-Khaliq, Ash-Shafi, Al-Akhir, Al-Fatir, Ar-Rahman, Al-Halim, As-Sani‘, Al-Badi‘, Al-Majid, Al-Hamid, As-Sami‘, Al-Basir, Al-Mutakabbir, As-Salam, Al-Malik, Al-Qayyum, Al-Mannan, Al-Hakim, An-Nasir, Al-Wadud, Al-Awwal, Al-Basit, Al-Karim, Al-Qarib, Al-Wahid” — are engraved on Copper Patina plaques.
Along the upper walls of the hall, just below the ceiling, the renowned elegy of Mohtasham Kashani recounting the events of Ashura is artistically inscribed in 12 stanzas, adding to the spiritual ambiance of the Husayniyya.
The women’s section has a separate entrance on the north alley and is fully independent from the men's section. It consists of two halls on two floors, with a total area of around 500 square meters. It is fully equipped for religious gatherings and educational classes, including a video recording system and closed-circuit television for live classroom broadcasts.