Qom << kum >> (pop. 1,229,964), is a city in north-central Iran. It lies on the western edge of a vast desert called the Dasht-e Kavir. Qom, also spelled Qum, has long been a spiritual center for Shī`ite Muslims, members of the Shī`ah branch of Islam.
The city has ancient origins. Alexander the Great, the Macedonian king and general, destroyed Qom in the 300’s B.C. But the city became prosperous again during the rule of the Sasanian dynasty in Persia (now Iran) from the A.D. 200’s to the 600’s. In the early 800’s, Fātimah bint Musa ibn Jafar—sister of Imam Ali al-Rida ibn Musa, a Shī`ite leader—died in Qom, and a shrine was built to her. During the rule of the Safavid dynasty from 1501 to 1722, Qom was promoted as a destination for pilgrimages (religious journeys). Workers beautified the shrine of Fātimah and other Shī`ite shrines in the city. As a result, pilgrimages to Qom increased. Iranian tribal wars of the 1700’s destroyed parts of Qom. But the Qajar dynasty, which ruled from 1794 to 1925, restored shrines, sanctuaries, and libraries.
In the mid-1900’s, Qom became an important center of opposition to the government of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Major protests occurred in the city in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the Islamic Revolution of 1979 that overthrew the shah, made Qom his home.
See also Iran .
