Abu Lolo Mausoleum

Pirooz Nahavandi or Firuzan, also known as Abu Lolo (ابو لولو), was a Persian soldier who served under the Great Persian commander Rostam Farrokhzad. He was captured in the Battle of al-Qadisiyyah in 636 CE when the Persians were defeated by the Arab-Muslim army of Caliph Omar on the western bank of the Euphrates River. Like his fellow Iranians at that time he was a Zoroastrian.

Pirooz Nahavandi was taken in as a slave by an Egyptian named Mughira. Mughira told Pirooz Nahavandi that if he worked for him for 100 days and nights then he would set him free. Pirooz Nahavandi worked those 100 days and nights during which he started to learn about Islam to ingratiate himself with the conquerors of Iran so that he could get into a position where he could get near to Omar and thus assassinate him in revenge of the Sassanid Persian Empire. One morning when Omar was leading the morning prayer at Masjid al Nabawi, Pirooz Nahavandi approached the Caliph and stabbed him in the back and gutted him. According to some sources he committed suicide after he assassinated the caliphe.

 

Pirooz Nahavandi is regarded by many Iranians as a National Hero. Pirooz Nahavandi's tomb is located on the road from Kashan to Fin, constructed in an eleventh century distinctive Persian-Khwarezmi dynastic architectural style, consisted of a courtyard, porch and conical dome decorated with turquoise colored tiles, and painted ceilings. The original date of its construction is unknown, but in second half of fourteen century it was fully restored and a new tombstone was placed over his grave.

Controversy was caused recently when the International Union for Muslim Scholars called for the tomb to be destroyed, a request which was not well received by Iranians, even among those who still support the Islamic Republic, having being perceived as a specifically anti-Iranian act. In 2007 the tomb was being locked to visitors, as it was announced there is a plan for the shrine to be destroyed by the order of the Islamic Regime. However, a large crowd of Iranians gathered outside the governor's office to voice their objection regarding the closure and possible destruction of the Iranian heritage, and a shrine which was one of the symbols of Iranian resistance against the Arab invaders in 7th century CE.