Iran Camp - Day 9

Bab al-Ilm - Girls

The day started off like any other, with an early morning visit to the Haram for Fajr prayers. The Jamaat namaaz was followed by an opportunity to do the Ziyarat of Bibi Masuma. Although this has become a daily routine, it doesn’t feel like one. Every Ziyarat and visit to the shrine brings about a sense of renewed awe at the personality of this great lady. Each opportunity to visit the shrine makes us realise how lucky we are to be able to do this almost every day.

The sense of thankfulness was coupled with the realisation that we had been blessed with the opportunity to spend 15th Sha’baan, the birth anniversary of Imam Zamana (AJTF), in the holy city of Qum, the abode of Masjid Jamkaran. We were all looking forward to staying up all night doing a’maal; for many of us it would be the first time.

We prayed Maghrib before leaving for the programme at night; this bus ride was like no other. The 15th of Shabaan is a public holiday in Iran and that was made evident by the fact that the streets were bustling with people, decorations and lights lined the streets and qasidas were playing loudly.

We noticed crowds of people gathering at various spots on the street, burning oudh and handing out sweet saffron-water. Families were picnicking and kids were playing; we even passed a mini-carnival along the way. I have never seen a city feel so vibrant and alive as Qum on this night.

After drinking the extremely refreshing juice we headed to Sheikh Nadir’s house. We had a discussion about Imam Mahdi (AS) and the importance of the 15th of Shabaan with Sheikh Khalfan. Then, we headed to Khizr Mountain.
The mountain was full of people, all praying and doing amaals. The view from the base of the mountain was amazing; we could see the entire city of Qum spread out before us, brightly lit in the night. The happiness within the hearts of the people was further manifested with fireworks across the city.

We settled down at the base of the mountain and recited Dua Kumayl. The feeling of reciting Dua Kumayl under the open sky next to Khizr Mountain is hard to describe. The feeling of peace and tranquillity that overcomes you as you recite the dua is one every Shia should have the opportunity to experience.

After Dua Kumayl was completed, we headed down to the bus to go to Masjid Jamkaran for the rest of the night’s a’maals. It was only a few hours till Fajr and the Mosque was already packed, with the rush of people overflowing and filling the vast courtyard. The atmosphere was incredible – it was truly uplifting that we were able to spend a few hours of the sacred night of the 15th of Sha’baan in the very masjid commissioned by our Imam (AJTF).

We made our way back to Jamiatul Zahra around sunrise and got some much needed rest before the long day ahead. In the early afternoon, we were given the opportunity to meet Ayatollah Waheed Khorasani. The visit started with a graduation ceremony of some of the Hawza students who were honoured with the opportunity to have this great personality bless them on such an auspicious day. Ayatollah Khorasani then provided us with a few words of wisdom – to read Quran everyday, and dedicate it to our Imam (AJTF); indeed, if we make the effort to remain connected to the Holy book and Allah (SWT)’s representative on Earth, we can only attain success.

We prayed our Zuhr and Asr namaaz at the Haram of Bibi Masuma Qum (AS) before heading back to Jaamia. It was our second time visiting the shrine at that time of the day and the difference from the time of Fajr namaaz was apparent. Compounded by the fact that it was 15th Sha’baan, the Haram was incredibly busy. Unfortunately we did not get to spend quality time with Lady Masuma (AS) because of the rush, but remained hopeful of doing her Ziyarat again the following day Inshal…

After lunch, we visited the house of Ayatollah Khomeini in Qum. This particular house was said to be his last place of residence before the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979. It was a modest place of residence and consisted of only a few rooms, a living space in the bottom floor, and a library and receiving room for visitors made up the top floor. Imam Khomeini was eventually sent to Turkey and then to France; when he returned from exile he moved to Tehran. The tour of his house provided insight as to who this great leader was.
The celebrations of the 15th of Shabaan concluded with a Khushali program at Dar al Zahra. The function was a truly remarkable experience. The small hall has probably never been as full as it was that night, which created a sense of ronak in and of itself. Moreover, there was poetry in Urdu, Arabic, Farsi and lectures in Gujarati, English and French. Being so out of our traditional routine, this 15th of Shabaan was truly memorable.

Madinah al-Ilm - Boys
Shabe Bara’at – 15th of Sha’baan – the birthday of Imam e Zamana (aj) in one of the holiest cities in the world - Qum. That is enough to emphasise the success of day 8!
To add the cherry on the cake, we spent the night performing a’maals in two places, which hold direct significance to the 12th Imam: the mount of Khidhr and Masjid e Jamkaraan.

No words, phrases, or expressions can possibly describe the scenario we witnessed. The streets were literally alive all night, decorations and lighting all over, faithful trying to get to their destinations for their celebrations and voices of “Labayk Ya Imam” ringing in all the corners of the city.

Amongst the a’maal we performed at the base of mount Khidhr were the two rakat prayer for the night of 15th of Shaaban, several dhikrs, ziyarat of Imam Husayn (as) and it finally climaxed with the recitation of Dua Kumail. All these a’maal under the open star filled sky added to the experience, making us more aware of our real purpose in life.

We were also graced with the presence of two prominent speakers: Shaykh Muhammad Khalfan and brother Muntazir Mahdi, who enlightened us about the Ghaibat of our Imam and how to prepare for his re-appearance. We thanked them from the bottom of our hearts for their endeavors to make sure we do not die deaths of ignorance. We have all heard the famous hadith “A person who dies without knowing the imam of his time, dies the death of an ignorant.”

One point that they both emphasised was that imam is not in ghaibat, it is us who have veiled ourselves from him. He sees us, listens to us, even helps us, it is us who do not sense his elixir.
Our night ended with salat-ul fajr in masjid e jamkaran along side 2 million people. If there is one place to be on the 15th of Shaaban, it is Qum. We pray to Allah swt to accept our insignificant ibaadah, Inshallah.
Mohammad Hasnain M Khatau, Mombassa Kenya

Education