Adhamiyah

Al-Adhamiyah (Arabic: الأعظمية, romanized: al-ʾaʿẓamiyya; ALA-LC: al-A‘ẓamīyah), also Azamiya, is a neighborhood and east-central district of the city of Baghdad, Iraq. It is one of nine administrative districts in Baghdad. Adhamiyah neighborhood, or the shrine district, is located north-west of the city center and is an upscale area. This is not to be confused with a much larger Adhamiyah district of Baghdad, which is nearly 9 times larger and has as many times the inhabitants. The shrine area, Adhamyiah proper, has about 100,000 inhabitants. This area was 95% Sunni, 5% Shi'ite before 2003 and the Iraqi invasion. After the Iraqi civil war (2006–2008), it is now nearly totally Sunni in its religious composition. The base of the population consists of people with a high intellectual background, whether it be politicians, artists, scholars and even sports figures. The name is a reference to Abū Ḥanīfah an-Nuʿmān, known as al-Imām al-Aʿẓam (Arabic: الإِمَـام الأَعـظَـم, "The Great Imam"), a renowned scholar and founder of the prominent Sunni Hanafī school of Islamic religious jurisprudence. Abu Hanifa Mosque is a prominent landmark, built around the tomb of Abū Ḥanīfah an-Nuʿmān.