[4] The cemetery is located near the shrine of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth Sunni Caliph, as well as the first Shia Imam.

[6] Shi'ites traditions hold that Abraham bought land in Wadi-us-Salaam, and that Ali had said the Wadi Al-Salaam was a part of heaven.

[7] Shia also widely believe that Ali has the power to intercede for the deceased—lessening their suffering—during the passage of their soul from the worldly life[8] and if they are buried there, they will be raised from the dead on judgment day with their spiritual leader.

[12] Burials in Najaf have been documented as early as the Parthian and Sassanid eras and ancient Mesopotamian cities often had similar cemeteries, where there was an accumulation of tombs.

[14] This figure is an increase on the approximately 20,000 bodies, primarily from Iran, that used to be interred annually in the early 20th century.

[19] First built in the 18th century under request of Moḥammad Mahdī Baḥr al-ʿUlūm over the purported tombs of Hud and Salih based on Shi'ite narrations.