The Grave Wars was a conflict which happened in the year 443 of the Hijrah, during the month of Safar. It occured in the center of Baghdad. The belligerents were two groups of people; one was a group of Muslims, and the other was a group of Rafidhah. It was a pretty long conflict.
The origins of the conflict started off with some inappropriate actions from the Rafidhah. They had built golden tower monuments which claimed that both Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and his cousin were both “Khayr al-Bashar”. This angered the Muslims, who told them to remove the tower monuments. But the Rafidhah refused, and they insisted that whoever disagreed that Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and his cousin are Khayr al-Bashar are doing an act of disbelief. The Muslims rejected that the Prophet ﷺ is equal to his cousin.
Eventually, the Rafidhah and the Muslims came to war. Riots broke out all over Baghdad. During the riots, a Muslim man of Hashimi descent was killed. The Muslims buried the man next to Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal. After the burial, the Muslims burned down several shrines built over the graves of the Buwayhid rulers, viziers and governors. They also looted the shrine built over the grave of Imam Musa ibn Ja'far and Muhammad al-Jawad. Some graves of Abbasid rulers were also destroyed, like those of the Caliph Al-Ameen and his mother.
The Rafidhah, as expected, had their revenge against the Muslims. They burned the grave of the Muslim Zuhaad ascetic, Ma'ruf al-Karkhi, and the graves of Al-Daraqutni and a few other Muslim scholars. Later, they burned the graves of several of the Salaf al-Saliheen, and they progressed towards the cemetery of Baghdad.
Soon, the Rafidhah reached the grave of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and they prepared to burn it. However, the leader of the Rafidhah stopped them from doing it, out of fear that such an action would cause an even bigger fitna to happen. The fighting eventually stopped a few weeks later.
Source:
Al-Bidayah wan Nihayah by Ibn Kathir
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