After Sultan Ahmad al-Jalairi assigned Marjan al-Deen al-Abid to govern Iraq during the Jalairi Sultanate (750 AH), which ruled over Iraq, west Iran and Azerbaijan, al-Abid considered it a great opportunity to conquer al-Jalairi’s Sultanate. Upon hearing the news, al-Jalairi sent thousands of his troops to kill al-Abid before he can implement his plan, prompting al-Abid to flee and seek safety in the Holy Shrine of Imam Hussain in Karbala, where he vowed that if he wasn’t killed, he would build a minaret atop the holy mosque.

When the Sultan heard about al-Abid’s whereabouts, he pulled his troops and did not kill al-Abid. Indeed, al-Abid had to commit to vow and therefore built the first minaret, which he named after himself, atop the holy shrine of Imam Hussain.

This accomplishment sparked jealousy in al-Jalairi as the newly assigned governor was becoming famous.

The Sultan then ordered for the building of two more adjacent minarets atop the holy shrine, which took 6-9 years to build due to their enormity.

In 1358 AH, the al-Abid Minaret was destroyed by the order of Iraqi PM Yaseen al-Hashimi to the governor of Karbala Salih Jabir, despite the backlash of the residents who considered it one of the Islamic antiquities with historical significance.

Eighteen years later, Sultan Saif al-Deen visited Karbala to reconstruct and gild the two minarets.

In 1991, the Shabaan Uprising resulted in the killing of thousands of civilians and the destruction of many buildings in the holy city, including the minarets by the Baathist Party – headed by Saddam Hussein.

After the fall of Saddam in 2003, the newly appointed administration of Imam Hussain Holy Shrine started to rebuild what the Baathist Party had destroyed.

Most recently, Shia donors re-gilded the holy minarets in 2008. The new golden minarets each measure 33 meters in length and 4 meters in diameter. They contain 80 kilograms of pure 24-carat gold, of which 5537 golden tiles were built, and 10 tons of copper (99% purity).