2: Ziarat in Iran

Inside the haram of Bibi-Masumah-Qum

Bismillah hir Rahman nir Rahim

We traveled to Tehran, Iran via Istanbul on Pegasus Airlines, no they don't serve any meals, unless you want to spend 12 Pounds on a veggie sub. We stayed at a family friend's house in Qum and visited Bibi Masoomeh-e-Qum's shrine.  If you haven't been, I strongly suggest finding a way to get an Iranian visa and making your way to visit her and our 8th Imam. Her shrine is incredibly peaceful and one in which you feel instantly connected. She was an incredibly spiritual, intelligent daughter of Imam Musa Khadim(as), who after losing her father, longed to be reunited with her older brother, Imam Ali Redha(as), who was summoned to Ray (Mashad), by the caliph at the time Ma'mun, and therefore had to leave their home in Medina. She traveled with some companions but was ambushed and murdered on her way. The circumstances of the time period in which Bibi Masoomeh lived, was one of the genocide of the Shi'a of Ali. Genocide being defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, caste, religious, or national group". 

   In fact, all the shrines that you visit in Iran, either of the children of Imam Musa Khadim or his companions leave an everlasting scar deep inside your heart. Each shrine has its own story, of migration, refuge, and survival.  Their shrines scattered,  in the mountains, in the valleys, on the outskirts.   Thousands of years separate us but we can feel their anguish and the terror that lived through for loving the Ahlul Bayt, for having the name Ali or Hasan or Husayn.  The climate was so intense that the lovers of the Ahlul Bayt had no choice but to leave what was familiar and escape in order to save their lives and thus preserve the legacy of the Prophet (saws). And for that we are eternally grateful.

Qum- 

View from hill of Hazrath Khidr's masjid

Hazrath Khidr's(as) masjid

While you are in Qum, there is also a beautiful masjid built by Hazrath Khidr atop a hill on the outskirts of theby Hasan b. Mathleh Jamakarani, who had a dream that our 12th Imam requested him to build a mosque on that location.  There is also a well outside for your areeza (letter to Imam Zaman) if you wish.



city, which takes about an hour up and down.  Masjid al Jamkaran is also nearby to this site and was built in 393 AH,

Masjid al Jamkaran

Tehran

We then made our way back to Tehran to catch an overnight train to Mashad, I highly recommend this mode of travel, if you are travelling on your own. There are many ziarat locations on your way to Tehran, Imam Khomeni's, as well as various Imam Zadeh's in Tehran.  Its a surprisingly clean city, mashAllah, lined with beautiful playgrounds, gardens, streets, shops.  Surprising, because of all the sanctions choking the economy. 

 I was mesmerized by the snow capped jagged mountains grounded solidly in the distance while rows of white and green Iranian flags symbolically waved and flapped freely, uninhibited along the motorway. This is a country standing on its own, surviving patiently, facing and solving their own problems independently.  

We finally reached the train station and awaited to board. Final destination, Mashad.