To the eastern side of the Umayyad Mosque courtyard, but a part of the mosque building itself, is the Shrine of Hussein, son of Ali and grandson of the Prophet. He was killed by the Umayyads at Kerbala in Iraq. The shrine attracts large numbers of Shiite Muslims (Ali is regarded as the founder of Shiism), and black-clad Iranians are a common sight, making straight across the courtyard for this part of the mosque.
