The Grave of Imam al-Ghazali in Toos, Khurasan

Near the newly constructed boulevard in the ancient city of Toos you can observe a huge square shaped historical monument made out of bricks. Its height is 25 meters and covers an area of 144 square meters and consists of three chambers. The middle chamber consists of mihrab which is decorated with intricate stucco work.
This building according to the popular belief is called as Haruniyah, the jail built by the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid (rule 170-193 A.H/ 786-809 A.D.) but it in the ancient travelogues it is named as Masjid-i Toos.
But according to the recent researches it have been established that this building was only a Khanqah built near a Masjid and constructed in the seventh or eighth century Hijrah. American missionary Donaldson in the year 1917 CE had observed that this building was only Khanqah belonging to Imam Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazali (450-505 A.H./ 1059-1111 CE) .But this building is not at all related to Imam al-Ghazali. But the historical accounts and chronicles and the famous world travelers who had paid visit to the grave of Imam al-Ghazali had recorded its location outside the precincts of the historical Toos (Taberan) city.
The author of Mihman Namah-i Bukhara compiled in 915 A.H., have described the grave of Imam al-Ghazali in detail. He has mentioned that the grave of Imam al-Ghazali was very small and was located near the western rampart of Toos city.
In the year 1995 the Archaeological Survey of Khorasan province carried out excavations in this area and discovered the remains of the grave of Imam al-Ghazali which corresponds exactly with the description as mentioned in Mihman Namah-i Bukhara in the year 915.
Haruniyah was renovated recently and a grave with epitaph ascribed to Imam al-Ghazali is located on the entrance of the monument. The grave of Husayn Khedive Jam, the renowned scholar on the life and works of Imam al-Ghazali is also located near this grave.
References:
1- Rajab Ali Labbaf Khaniki, The Visage of the Cultural History of Khurasan, March 1999.
2- Guide to Toos, Mashhad, 1994.
3- Mihman Namah-i Bukhara