BAGHDAD, Iraq — Today, the city of Najaf is a religious tourism hub for Shiites around the world. The city is home to the sacred shrine of Imam Ali ibn Abi-Talib — the fourth of the Rashidun Caliphs — built nearly 700 years ago, and hosts the highest Shiite religious authority in the Muslim world. In this overwhelming Islamic presence, scarce other religious representation can be found in the city, as Muslim clerics ban non-Islamic symbols in holy cities like Najaf, including Mecca and Karbala, where the building of other kinds of places of worship such as Christian churches is prohibited. This is an old phenomenon that emerged with the rise of Islam during the seventh century forbidding the existence of multiple religions in the Arabian peninsula. 

However, recent archaeological discoveries following excavation works in 2008 show that this conservative Islamic city so averse to churches is one of the oldest Christian cities in the world. The remains of a church and a monastery are believed to be the oldest Christian monuments in Iraq, dating back to the year 270.

Although Najaf province contains over 30 historic Christian sites excavated by American and German expeditions as well as the Najaf Antiquities Inspectorate between 2007 and 2011, for ideological reasons, this research has failed to promote any tolerance of non-Islamic religious rituals and events that celebrate its ancient history.

For example, in December, Sheikh Ibrahim Saffar, a professor at the Najaf seminary, demanded that a man who wore a Santa Claus costume in Najaf face criminal charges.