Qom

Qom (kôm), city (1991 pop. 681,253), Tehran prov., W central Iran. Located in a semiarid region, it is an industrial and transportation center. Its manufactures include textiles, glass, pottery, and shoes. Large deposits of petroleum have been found in the area. Qom has been a center of the Shiite Muslims since early Islamic times and is the burial place of Fatima al-Masuma (d. 816), sister of Imam Riza. The city became a center of pilgrimage in the 17th cent., and an imposing shrine was erected over Fatima's tomb. Qom was pillaged by the Afghans in 1722, but in the 19th cent. its great shrine was lavishly restored and embellished. The city is also known as Qum and Kum.

---

Qom, Qum, Kum

a city in NW central Iran: a place of pilgrimage for Shiite Muslims. Pop.: 1 045 000 (2005 est.)

---

Qom 

a city in Iran, in the ostan (province) of Tehran. Population, 133,900 (1970). Qom is a railroad and highway junction. The tobacco and textile industries are well represented. It is an important center of cottage-industry production (carpet-making and others), and wool and hides are traded. Architectural works from the 13th to the 16th centuries are located in the city.

Iranian historical tradition attributes Qom’s founding to the Sassanian king Kavadh I (ruled 488–496 and 499–531). Qom became a significant populated point under the first Abbasids (second half of the eighth century). The tomb (mausoleum) of Fatima (the daughter of the Shiite imam Musa al-Kazim) is located in the city. Qom is considered the second holy city in Iran by the Shiite Muslims (after Meshed); it is a center of pilgrimages.

REFERENCE

Qumi, Hasan ibn Mohammad. Kitab-e tarikh-e Qom (The History of Qom), 2nd ed. Tehran, 1969.