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Encyclopedia of Religion entry for
Al-Kufah
A city on the west bank of the river Euphrates, about four days march from Baghdad, but which has now entirely disappeared. The city of al-Kufah was founded soon after the Arabs conquered Persia, A.D. 636, and in the reign of the Khalifah ‘Umar. It was built opposite the ancient town of Madain, on the other side of the river. The first Abbaside Khalifah, Abu ‘l-Abbas, A.D. 750, made it his capital, and it was then a flourishing city, but when the Khalifah al-Mansur built Baghdad, al-Kufah decreased in importance, and gradually fell into decay. It was much famed for its learned men, and especially for its grammarian. Two sects of rival grammarians were named respectively from al-Basrah and al-Kufah, and the more ancient characters of Arabic writing are called Kufi or Kufic, after this seat of learning. The Kufic-Arabic letters resemble the Syriac, being square and heavy. The ancient copies of the Qur’an are written in Kufic. 
citations: Dictionary of Islam, Hughes
article created 2006-04-12 , last updated 2006-04-12
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