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It’s Monday night, the 25th
of June, we all have gathered at Queen Ailiya Airport at Amman, Jordan. Both groups have finally met after what
seemed like forever. This was the
starting point of our month long journey. Our group consisted of around 44 people
from America and Canada; all in all we were a pretty large khafila. To our
surprise we all became very close within the next couple of days. We had a
three-hour wait at the airport for our connecting flight to Damascus, Syria. As the time grew near, the anxiety grew
within all of us because the other side of the gate held all our dreams and
wishes, which for most of us were becoming true for the very first time. Upon reaching Damascus, we all waited for
our tour guide to arrive and take us to immigrations. We left the airport
really late due to difficulties at the baggage claim and by the time we reached
our hotel, the Rowda Hotel, it was 1:00 in the morning. We were all very tired and excited at the
same time, but with the harams closed, our only choice was to sleep.
The next morning….
Tuesday
June 27th, 2000
Main Ziarats in Damascus:
We went to the following Ziarats:
1. Umme
Habbiba (s.a.)
Umme Salma (s.a.)
·
wives
of Prophet Mohammad (s.w.a.)
2. Abdullah
ibne Zainul Abedeen (a.s)
·
youngest
son of the 4th Imam and was two years old in Karbala
·
he
got sick & died here; Syeda Zainab (a.s.) & Imam Zainul Abedeen (a.s.)
buried him here
3. The
heads of 16 Shohada-e-Karbala
·
the
families of the Imam were locked here for three days when coming
from Kufa to prepare the bazaar for their arrival
·
according
to some legends, 6 of these heads belonged to the Ahlul-Bayt and were kept here
for one year:
a.
Hazrat
Qasim (a.s)
b.
Hazrat
Hurr (a.s)
c.
Hazrat
Ali Akbar (a.s)
d.
Hazrat
Aun & Mohammad (a.s)
e.
Hazrat
Abbas (a.s)
*Hazrate
Abbas’s head would keep falling from the spear. It kept falling because he had
promised his mother and sisters that he would protect them, and he was unable
to see that even after his death that the chadors of the ladies of his family
were taken and being slapped. His head was buried here so that he would not
have to see such site. After the 4th
Imam was released, Hazrat Abbas’s head was taken from here and properly buried
with his body in Karbala.
4.
Masjid named Zainul Abedeen
·
there’s
a water well here which was used by the family for drinking and
doing
wuzu
·
inside
the masjid, the 4th Imam led prayers for three days before they
entered Bazaar-e-Shaam
5. Graveyard
Site:
Gravesites of several important personalities such
as:
·
Bibi
Fizza (a.s.) – Kaneez-e-Fatima (She was the servant of Syeda Fatima Zehra
(s.a.) and was considered as a second mother by the Imams.)
·
Hazrat
Bilal (a.s.)- African Muslim who was the first to read azan
·
Syeda
Kulsum (a.s.)- Imam Hussain’s sister
·
Syeda
Sakina binte Ali ibne Hussain (a.s.)- the granddaughter of Imam Hussain (a.s.)
Wednesday
June 28th, 2000
We went to the following Ziarats:
Outside of Shaam
1.
Hujjer ibne Adi
·
companion
of the Prophet (p.b.u.h.)
·
great
person with remarkable qualities
·
first
person to dig up his own grave and then be slaughtered by the tyrant Mawiya
In
Halab or know as Aleppo, Syria
2.
Prophet
Zachriya
·
father
of John the Baptist( Prophet Yahya)
3.
Hazrat Mohsin (a.s.)
·
young
son of Imam Hussain (a.s.) who died while still in the womb of his mother.
·
the
mother is unknown, but is one of the wives of Imam Hussain
4.
Raasool-e-Hussain (Rahib’s
House)
·
place
where Imam’s head was kept on a stone
·
the
stone turns red every Ashura as part of its azadari
Thursday
June 29th , 2000
Today was the last day of Shaam We all started doing Ziarats in the Umayyad Mosque.
5.
Umayyad Mosque- we walked through
Baazar-e-Shaam, which lead us into Yezid’s palace/Umayyad Mosque.
*Baazar-e-Shaam: pathway of the ladies of the
Imam(a.s.) after
Karbala
·
leading
towards the gates of Yezid’s palace
·
Mimber-e-Zainul
Abedeen across from Taqte Yezid (throne of Yezid)
·
Prophet
Yahya
·
Raasool-e-Hussain
(location of the head of Imam Hussain in Yezid’s palace)
·
Muqaame
Zainul Abedeen (location of the 4th Imam’s prayer spot in Yezid’s
palace
·
Mimber
or pulpit of Syeda Zainab’s qutba
*History of Umayyad Mosque
·
used
as a temple for the Greek god, Jupiter in the time of ancient Rome and
Greece…before Islam
·
became
a mosque during the Islamic movement during the Umayyad dynasty
During our stay in Damascus,
Syria, all the salats were either read in Zainabiya or at the roza of Syeda
Rukkayya Sakina (s.a.) but since we were very close to Syeda Zainab’s zarih, we
often went there.
Friday
June 30th , 2000
We all arrived
in Baghdad around 5 o’clock after a tiring 24 hour bus trip from Damascus. We
settled in our hotel, The Babylon, and got ready to go to Khadimyya for maghrib
and isha prayers.
The Ziarats,
which we visited, were:
1.Imam Moosi
Kazim (a.s)
·
the
7th Imam, son of Imam Jafar-e-Sadiq (a.s.)
·
the
9th Imam, son of Imam Ali Raza (a.s.)
Also in Khadimiya:
Inside the Haram
·
Sheik Mufid: advisor of the
12th Imam and also a great scholar
·
Mulla Nasarudeen Toosi:
scholar
Outside the Haram
·
Syed Murtaza
·
Syed Razi: compiler of
Nahjul Balagha (compilation of speeches, sermons, letters, and quotes of Imam
Ali (a.s.)
Day 5
Saturday
July 1st ,2000
We left in the morning for several Ziarats in Samarra and Balad.
1. Samarra
·
Imam Ali Naqi (a.s.)
·
Imam Hasan Askari (a.s.)
·
Bibi Nargis-e-Khatoon (mother of the 12th
Imam (a.s.)
·
Bibi Hakima (sister of the 10th
Imam)
2.
Next, we all received a chance to go underground to the place of
gaibath of the 12th Imam (a.s.) even though it was under
construction. This place was called the Sardab.
3.
Balad
·
Sayyid Mohammad ibne Imam
Ali Taqi (a.s.)
·
NOTE:
Till this day, whoever commits a crime at the zarih or around, Sayyid Mohammad
punishes the person because in his time, criminals were brought to him for
confession.
We went to
Khadamiya to read maghrib and isha prayers and went back to the hotel.
Sunday
July 2nd, 2000
Today the following Ziarats were as following:
1. Ziarat of the 4 Nawaib of the 12th
Imam who used to meet with him during
gaibath-e-sugra:
·
Osman bin Sayeed
·
Mohammad bin Osman bin
Sayeed
·
Hussain bin Rooh
·
Abdul Hasan Ali bin Mohammad
2.
Masjid-e-Burassa
·
there
is a white stone placed here which Bibi Maryam, the mother of
Prophet Isa (a.s.) had lifted on her shoulder
·
there
is a black stone here from the time of Imam Ali (a.s.). He had told the people
that only the successor of the prophet could remove. Imam Ali (a.s.) lifted the
rock and there came sweet water.
3.
Bahlul Dana
·
companion
of Imam Ali (a.s.) and lived till the time of Imam Jaffer-e-Sadiq (a.s.).
·
King
Harun-ul-Rasheed threatened his life so he pretended to be dumb and crazy to
save his life and spread the word of Islam.
4. Other
Ziarats:
·
Hazrat
Salman Farsi
·
Hazrat
Jabir ibne Abdullah Ansari
·
Hazrat
Huzaifutul Yemeni
·
Taqai
Kisra- A Roman palace which was
destroyed at the birth of our
Prophet (s.a.w.)
Monday
July 3rd, 2000
Main
Ziarat in Najaf is:
·
Imam Ali (a.s.)- the first Imam of Islam,
husband to Syeda Fatima Zehra, and father to Imam Hussain (a.s.) and Imam
Hussain (a.s.)
For
today our Ziarats included:
1.
We
first went to meet Ayatullah Seestani to have a question/answer
session and to give our suitcases filled with medicine and clothing for the
poor.
2. Wadi-us-Salaam Graveyard:
a.
Prophet
Hood
b.
Prophet
Saleh
NOTE: Whoever writes their name in this graveyard,
their soul will come here after death. Dur-e-Najaf, a translucent stone can
also only be found in this graveyard.
·
Imam
Hussain’s head was kept here for three days when the khafila was
going from Karbala to Shaam to Yezid’s palace.
NOTE: When Imam Ali’s janaza (funeral procession)
was passing by this masjid, the two minarets bowed down in honor.
4.
Masjid-e-Kumail
·
Hazrat
Kumail ibne Zai (Asahbi of Imam Ali)
NOTE: Hazrat Kumail came to Imam Ali (a.s.) and
asked for a dua, which he can read. Imam Ali read a dua and appointed him to
read it also, it became known as Dua-Kumail, which is usually read on every
Thursday.
5.
Hazrat Meesam-e-Thamar
·
Because
of his love for Imam Ali (a.s.), he was hanged and his tongue was cut off.
·
asahbi
of Imam Ali (a.s.)
Today was a long but very
interesting day. Tomorrow we will be going to Kufa and visiting the Ziarats
there.
Tuesday
July 4th, 2000
1.
The first Ziarat location was at Masjid-e-Kufa.
We read namaz-e-Fajr and
started to
perform Ziarat and salats at each muqaam :
2. Bayt-e-Ali- The House of Imam Ali
(a.s.) after the passing away of Syeda
Fatima (a.s.)
·
next
to Masjid-e-Kufa
·
we
drank from the well in the house
·
original
house was much smaller and less intricate, just the area
is original.
3.
Masjid-e-Saleh for maghrib
and isha prayers
·
performed
the a’amal of the masjid
NOTE:
Every Tuesday, Imam-e-Zaman comes to the Masjid between
Isha
and Maghrib prayers.
Thursday July 6th, 2000
Main
Ziarats in Karbala:
·
Imam Hussain (a.s.)- the grandson of the
Prophet (s.a.w.) and the 3rd Imam
·
Hazrat Abbas (a.s.)- the half brother of
Imam Hussain and the leader of the Imam’s army in the tragedy of Karbala.
By the grace of Allah (swt), our khafila reached Karbala safe and sound. The minute I stepped onto this holy ground, I kissed it because this was the location where many lives were lost and rivers of blood flowed of the martyrs from the tragedy of Karbala. During the time we were in Karbala, all salats were read in the zarihs of either Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) or Imam Hussain (a.s), so we got to perform the ziarats pretty much 5 times a day and more.
But before, we visited Hilla on the way and performed the following ziarats:
1.
Qasim (a.s.) – from the progeny of Hazrat Abbas (a.s.)
2.
Hamza (a.s) – from the progeny of Imam Hasan (a.s.)
3. Hazrat Hurr (a.s.) -his mother moved
his body from the battlefield where he died to place a few miles away to bury
him.
4. Hazrat
Aun and Mohammad (a.s.) - The sons of Syeda Zainab (s.a.) and martyrs of
the tragedy of Karbala. Actually there is a controversy to exactly whose grave
this is. The name written on the zarih now was Aun ibne Abdullah which would go
for both Aun and Mohammad but according to past zawars, Aun ibne Ali was
written which would mean that Aun and Mohammad weren’t buried there but Aun,
the son of Imam Ali (a.s.) and Bibi Asma binte Umais. (s.a.) was.
·
the
two children of Muslim bin Aqeel
·
Mosayub,
was where they were buried
6. River
Euphrates
·
some
us stepped in the water and some swam for a little while
·
it’s
mustahab or recommended for doing wuzu and ghusl here
7. Muqaame
Imam Zamana- one of the places where our 12th Imam was seen
Friday
July 7th 2000
1. Kaf-e-Abbas-place where the left hand
of Abbas fell while he was
getting water for Syeda Sakina
(a.s.) and the rest of the
caravan
·
there
was a left hand drawn to symbolize what had happened here
Close by was the other:
·
Kaf-e-Abbas
where the other hand had fell
2.
Muqaam-e-Ali Asghar
·
place
where Hazrat Ali Asghar was shot by the 3 pronged arrow by
Hurmula
·
we
preformed a majalis here
3.
Muqaam-e-Ali Akbar
·
location
where Hazrat Ali Akbar (a.s.) had died during battle
·
we
also preformed majalis here
4. Tilia Zainabiya
·
on
top of a hill where Syeda Zainab saw down on to the battlefield at the time
when Imam Hussain was fighting.
5. Qaimagah
·
the
location of the tents of Imam Hussain(a.s.) and his khafila
·
we
had also performed a small majalis here
Saturday
July 8th, 2000
Free day in Kerbala filled with shopping.
Sunday
July 9th, 2000
A group of people from our group went early morning after fajr namaz to a private farm to sacrifice a total of 53 lambs, one for each member of our group plus few more. Across the farm was the ba’ag (orchard) of Imam Jaffer-e-Sadiq (a.s.).
Later that afternoon, Jabir,
Masoom, Alamdar, Zishan, and two agents went to distribute the meat into the
poorest neighborhoods in the outskirts of Karbala, close to the zarih of Hurr
(a.s.).
Monday
July 10th, 2000
Today was a very exciting, fun-filled day. Our agents had decided to treat us on a boat cruise on the Tigris River. We all enjoyed the calm-peaceful night; it was a long time since we had any rest. The city of Khadimiya was close so we decided to once again visit the shrines of Imam Moosi Kazim and Mohammad Taqi (a.s.). We also read maghrib and isha prayers.
Tuesday
July 11th, 2000
Today we had decided to travel back to Najaf for a couple of hours to visit the zarih of Imam Ali (a.s.) and to pray the afternoon prayers also.
Day 17
Wednesday July 12th,
2000
Free day in Karbala.
Day 18
Thursday July 13th,
2000
Today was our last day in Karbala, we left Karbala, and went back to Baghdad then across the border to Damascus, Syria.
Day 19
Friday July 14th,
2000
We had all of this day to spend in Damascus since our flight for Tehran was in the afternoon. Everyone woke up early for fajr namaz and Ziarat at Zainabiya (zarih of Syeda Zainab (s.a.). Half of the group decided to go to Syeda Sakina’s zarih in the morning and come back to Zainabiya for the Friday qutba while the other half just went to Syeda Sakina’s zarih for Friday namaz then back to Zainabiya. We left in the afternoon for Tehran and reached there at night that same day.
Day 20
Saturday
July 15th, 2000
1. Ziarat of Shah
Abdul Azim
QUM
2. Masoom-e-Qum
·
the sister of Imam Raza
(a.s.)
·
her name was Fatima
*She
was on her way to meet her brother, the Imam, but didn’t make it to
Mashad
and dies in this city, Qum.
3. Masjid-e-Jamkaran
·
one very pious man by
the name of Jamkarani had a dream one night with the 12th Imam in
it. The Imam told Jamkarani to build a masjid in Qum, so the next day when he goes
to the designated area, the boundaries of the masjid’s construction are already
laid out for him to build.
NOTE: we placed our arzees(requests) here for the 12th Imam
4. Tomb of
Ayatullah Khomeini- great Marjah who lead the revolution of Iran against the
Shah.
·
prayed maghrib and isha
prayers
Day 21
Sunday July 16th,
2000
Our flight for Mashad was in the evening so today we went to the house of Imam Khomeini and his museum in the morning. The paintings and portraits drawn of him from famous artists of the world were displayed and were remarkable! There were memorabilia of his such as his clothing, shoes, his favorite perfume, letters and many pictures. We really enjoyed today.
We left for the airport right after we visited Imam Khomeini’s house and reached Mashad late night but anyhow, many people from our group decided to go straight to Imam Raza’s Zarih to perform Ziarat and come back after fajr namaz to the hotel.
Day 22
Monday
July 17th, 2000
All day in Mashad filled with shopping, and going to Imam Raza’s zarih.
Day 23
Tuesday
July 18th, 2000
Nishapur (Qadamgah)
· *This is where the footprints of Imam Ali Raza(a.s.) are located.
· *This was the location of one of Imam Raza’s miracles. When he was on his way to Mamoon, the son of King Haroon-ul-Rasheed, he comes to this place where Imam had a need for water to do wudhu. He asks around for water but all the villagers say that there is no water anywhere around here. Imam Raza gently hits the ground with his foot and there comes out gushing, sweet water. Till this day, the same water keeps running through that hole, many people in our group collected some in little jars.
Day 24
Wednesday July 19th,
2000
We spent the morning in Mashad and went back to Tehran at night.
Day 25
Thursday July 20th,
2000
Fun-filled day of shopping and roaming the beautiful streets of Tehran.
At late night, 10 of us sneaked out of the hotel without telling anyone, hired a small bus and went out to Darband Mountain. It was a beautiful night, we had tea and coconut covered dates while sitting under the stars and telling jokes and having a wonderful time!
Day 26
Friday July 21st,
2000
We went to visit the ziarat of Sherbanu (s.a.) in the morning and left for Damascus that same day, late evening.
From Damascuz, we went to Amman, to Shannon Airport in Ireland and back home to America!
Ziarat 2000 was a great, successful trip to the Holy shrines of Jordan, Syria, Iraq, and Iran. We were a very diverse group, from seniors to infants and had the time of our lives. We were educated from our elders, given advice from past zawars and felt great pride of being recognized a “Zawar-e-Hussain” when we came back. Inshallah, our next trip will be very soon!
Compiled
By: Zishan Hussain Bader & Kubra Ali Khan
Written By
: Zishan Hussain Bader