Hast Imam

Hast Imam is a religious complex in Tashkent’s old quarter, where mosques, madrasahs, a mausoleum, and a library surround courtyards and restored historic buildings. Mud-brick homes nearby survived the 1966 earthquake, while the ensemble reflects centuries of religious, cultural, and architectural change.

The mausoleum holds the burial place of Abu Bakr Muhammad Kaffal Shashi, a scholar born in Tashkent in 903 and associated with Islamic law, poetry, and diplomacy. The sixteenth-century Barak Khan Madrasah encloses a courtyard with glazed-tile decoration, while Muyi Muborak Madrasah preserves more than 20,000 manuscripts in its library and museum. Among them is Caliph Uthman’s Quran, written in the middle of the seventh century across 353 large parchment sheets.

The Hazrati Imam Mosque combines 53-metre minarets with domes gilded inside, sandalwood from India, Turkish green marble, and blue Iranian tiles. At night, illuminated buildings stand among exotic trees, shrubs, and flowers, with storks often crossing the grounds in warmer months.