Isfahan, Iran
Coordinates: 32.663442, 51.685978
The tomb of Shia Nabi is located next to Imamzade Ismail on the edge of Hatef Esfahani Street.
In the 8th century BC, Shayya bin Amsia a.s became a prophet in the land of Palestine. Shia a.s lived after Yunus a.s and Daniel a.s and before Hz Zakaria a.s and Hz Yahya a.s
His name is not mentioned in the Holy Quran, but in some gospels such as the Gospel of Barnabas and the Gospel of Matthew, he is referred to as “Isaiah the Prophet”. In the collection of holy books, there is a book called “The Book of Isaiah the Prophet” and in it the inspirations of Allah on Hazrat Shayya (a.s) have been written.
The mission of the Shia Prophet was to propagate the religion of Prophet Moses (a.s) and invite the Israelites to his religion. It is said that after the destruction of Jerusalem, Shia (a.s) rebuilt it.
Prophethood period of Hazrat Shia a.s
Hazrat Shia a.s was sent to a people who had a king named “Sedekiah” (Hezekiah). At first, they believed in the Oneness of Allah and were honest people, until they introduced a new heresy in their religion . In response to their rebellion, Allah appointed the king of Babylon to rule over them. But those people began to pray and repented. Allah also accepted their repentance because of their righteous fathers. In the morning, the people saw that the entire army of Babylon perished in their camp, and only fifteen of them, including Bakht Nasr, survived the wrath of Allah, and Zedekiah ruled over them once again. Zedekiah was a righteous and pious man, until Zedekiah ruled the people, people remained monotheistic and obeyed their prophet.
Prophet Shia a.s was commissioned by Allah to stop his people from committing sins and delinquency and to call them once again to faith and Allahliness. Then Allah sent a revelation to Shia a.s that I will soon take Zedekiah’s life. It is better to ask him to choose a successor for himself. Shia a.s brought Allah’s revelation to Zedekiah. Zedekiah begged and lamented and expressed his regret for not being able to provide a luggage for himself and asked Allah to delay his death . Allah also answered his prayer and added another fifteen years to his life. After Zedekiah’s death, people turned to rebellion and sin again.
Allah sent a revelation to Shia a.s that soon one hundred and forty thousand evil and sinful people and sixty thousand good people of your nation will be destroyed. Shia a.s asked; What is the sin of the good in this? The Lord said; They had company with sinners and never looked at them with anger and were not upset to associate with them. Shia a.s went to his people to guide them. But they not only did not listen to his invitations and instructions, but also decided to kill him.
Death and burial
How Hazrat Shia a.s was killed has been narrated in two ways:
After the death of Hezekiah, the king of the time of Sheaiah, the Israelites committed corruption in the land, but Shia (a.s) forbade them from doing so. They also tried to kill him. So, Hz Shia (a.s) ran away and hid in the middle of a tree, but they split him into two halves in the tree.
It has been reported that the corruption of Bani Israel, which is mentioned in the Qur’an , is related to the killing of Hazrat Shayya (a.s.).
It is also said: because of the evangelization of Hazrat Shia (a.s) about the prophethood of Jesus (a.s) and Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), the people of Shia kept him in Jerusalem for seventy days and then some people killed him.
In the Islamic texts and the Holy Bible, there is no mention of the last years of Prophet Shia’s life (a.s.) and his burial, but in the writings of Rabbi Sulaiman bin Shimoun in the year 1422 AD (820 A.H.) it is stated that: “I saw in a book that the prophet Amos and Prophet Isaiah is buried in a cave in Taqwa. The town of Tagoo is located 15 kilometers southwest of Jerusalem, but the location of a cave mentioned in the Talmud is not known to us today.
Some people say that Hazrat Shia a.s came to Iran to guide the people and died in Isfahan city, and his shrine is located next to Imamzadeh Ismail on the side of Hatef Street in Isfahani. Shia a.s Nabi’s tomb is one of the famous places in Isfahan. A wooden shrine is placed on the tomb of this prophet. On the northern side of the shrine, a stone inscription with Nastaliq script and related to the Safavid era can be seen.
Of course, due to the distance between Prophet Shia a.s’s homeland in Palestine and his tomb in Isfahan, this attribution cannot be confirmed with certainty, and it is possible that the person buried in this tomb is another saint of Allah named Shia a.s
Some of the information provided in this articles is provided from the Shia scholars
