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27th August 2006 saw the conclusion of a very memorable 10 day Bab-ul-ilm 3 Iran 2006 summer course. The objective of the course was not only to give 23 young adults from the ages of 14-17 years an opportunity to attend structured lectures, but for many it was the opportunity to visit the holy cities of Qom and Mashad for the first time.
Having arrived in the Holy City of Qom, in the early hours of Friday, one of the first experiences the children had was to attend the Salaat-e-Jama'at at the Musallah-e-Quds, usually attended by over 3,000 Shias, and feedback received from the children revealed this was a truly overwhelming and powerful experience, because not only did they recite salaat with over 3,000 Muslims, but for the first time they were reciting salaat with over 3,000 followers of the Ahl-ul-Bayt. The Friday also saw the official opening ceremony of the Bab-ul-ilm 2006 course.
The course duration was over a period of 9 days, 5 days in the Holy City of Qom, and the remaining 4 days in the Holy City of Mashad. Our time in Qom was split between structured lessons in the morning presented by Sheikh Shomali (Akhlaq and the soul), Sheikh Nadir Jaffer (Secrets of Salaat), Sheikh Abbas Jaffer (The Quran’s message to the youth) and Brother Abbas Merali (The effects of evil) and spiritual, cultural, educational and recreational trips in the afternoon and the evenings.
The trips varied from the spiritually charged Tuesday evening at Jamkarran, to the question and answer session with Ayatollah Sistani's representative Agha Hashimi, to a fleeting trip to Ansariyan Bookshop, to a special audience with Syed Mujtaba Musavi Lari, to the awe-inspiring climb of the Mountain of Khidr, to the refreshing swim at the Olympic size swimming pool, to the cleansing experience of cupping, to the reflective visit of Bayt-e-Noor (the home that Bibi Masooma stayed during her final days in Qom) and to cap it all off, the daily visits to the beautiful and peaceful Haram of Bibi Masooma (SA).
After an emotional farewell to Bibi Masooma on (SA), we safely landed in Mashad for the second leg of our trip. Once again the journey to this holy land lived up to its expectations. Many of us will never forget the first site of the beautifully lit up golden dome as we made our way from the airport to our apartment in Mashad.
Many of us will also never forget the memories of the beautiful communal recitation of Dua-Kumayl, the visit to the museum of Imam Radha (where 1/50th of the gifts presented to the Imam are available to view), the scenic journey to Nayshapur, the early morning prayer of Layl at the Haram and most of all the private Ziyarat time we had with the Imam.
As they say, 'all good things come to an end!' and after a life changing 10 day journey we all arrived safely back in London on Sunday 27th August.
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