3:Ziyarat in Mashad, Iran

Bismillah hir Rahman nir Rahim

The Holy Prophet (saws) is reported to have said, "A piece of my flesh will be buried in Khurasan.  Any faithful believer who visits him will win paradise as reward recorded obligatory by Almighty Allah(swt) and will have hellfire prohibited from consuming their body." (Tuhfat al Za'ir)

Train Travel

Travelling by train from Tehran to Mashad was by far the most memorable mode of travel I have been on. Each cabin had its own flat screen tv, bunk beds with pillows and bedding, tea, and dining service. The train would also stop for salat.  After eating, reading, chatting, and walking around the train, we opened out our bunks, laid the bedding and tried to sleep for the rest of the 12 hour journey. Admittedly, I found it extremely difficult to sleep that night. The elevation was effecting me, the closed chambers, lack of air circulation and my unknowing snoring cabin mates.  I would still rather travel this way than by car or plane, the anticipation builds, the distance obvious. The  8th Imam was coerced  to travel from the security of his own hometown of  Medina a distance of  1,881.5 miles. Summoned by the royal court of Mamoon to Khorasan (Mashad) and eventually martyred on the 17th Safar 203AH after having been invited to dinner and fed poisoned grapes.  Imam Redha's(as) popularity over shadowed that of Mamoon's.

Hotels/Security Checks

Once you arrive, check in to where you are staying.  http://www.lonelyplanet.com/iran/northeastern-iran/mashhad/hotels- link for a variety of places in the city. I would advise to choose according to proximity of haram to fully take advantage of your time there. After having a ghusl and washing up, take only what you need to perform the ziarat, I strongly advise not carrying a purse full of random things or any extraneous bags, as they will stop you in the security queue to enter and delay your entry. Carry a passport pouch, around your neck or waist, with your money, passport, key to your room, hotel card with address, and nothing more. They did let us enter with our phones-no camera- but you may get an overly cautious guard who asks you to put your things in amanat (deposit cubicles).  

Meeting Points/Zari

Be sure to pick an obvious spot to meet your whole group as the haram is huge- I got lost several times- use certain points of reference to find your way and remember the names of the gates. Meet the group you enter with (all female or male) inside the haram nearer to the actual zari.  A word to the wise- having gone to Medina, Iraq and Iran, I would say Mashad proves to be the most difficult to reach the zari unscathed. In fact I lost my daughter in the sea of pilgrims and found her 30 mins later having had her chador pulled off in between all the bodies pressing forward and back. There is a family area downstairs that is not as aggressive or daunting, ask someone and they will show you the stairs, its definitely worth inquiring about with small children. You will have access to the zari from a floor below. 

Zari - Downstairs Access

Dhastarkhan of Imam Redha(as)

You have the opportunity to eat a meal as a guest of Imam Redha(as). Be sure to go early in the morning to the Pilgrim's office (check a map or ask) with a passport for each guest (if travelling with a group- they most likely will make arrangements for this). You are allowed one meal.  You can also go to Naudharat (donation) office in Nawab Safavi St and make a donation to the shrine, you get one meal ticket per $50 donation.  

Museum

When you are visiting the pilgrim's office also be sure to get a ticket for the museum tour, I have missed this opportunity twice now, the first time due to time constraints and the second time due to 2 feet of snow altering our departure. 

There is a beautiful gift shop in the museum with lovely calligraphy pieces.  

Shopping

There is the Imam Reza bazaar, near the round about (with the sculpture of the firoza ring) outside the haram, near the Rezavi hotel.  This is a long stretch of indoor shops with jewelry, rings, scarves, nuts, saffron, etc.  If you speak a language other than English, I suggest you do so, to avoid getting ripped off. Sometimes they understand Urdu, if that's your native language. 

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.