AhlulBayt News Agency: There are many traditions concerning the merit of Imam Rida's (a.s)
Ziyarah (pilgrimage) in general and in some its thawab (spiritual
reward) is concerned to be equal to that of the martyrdom of the martyrs
of Badr and in still other traditions its thawab is considered equal to
that of a hajj pilgrimage.
Ja'far ibn Muhammad ibn Qulawayh narrates the following tradition from
Hassan ibn Abd Allah, from his father, Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn
Isa,from Dawud Sarmi, who narrates from Abu Ja'far the Second (Imam
Muhammad al-Taqi (a.s), ninth Holy Imam) saying:
I heard him say, "Whoever visits my father's tomb shall enter paradise"1.
Again, he narrates from his father, from Sa'd, from Ibrahim ibn Rayyan,
fromYahya ibn al-Hasan al-Husayni, from Ali ibn Abd Allah ibn Qutrub:
"Ali ibn Abd Allah ibn Qutrub says: "Once when the sons of Imam Musa
al-Kazim (a.s) were gathered in his presence, Ali, his son, who was very
young, passed by; then the Holy Imam said. "This son of mine
shall die in a foreign land. So whoever makes a pilgrimage to his
shrine, while he submits to his Wilayah and Imamah and knows his right,
shall have a reward near Allah Almighty and Glorious, like that of the
martyrs of Badr"2.
In The Presence Of Imam Ridha (a.s)
Ziyarah (pilgrimage) is the eager visit to present ourselves before whom we love and venerate.
Ziyarah is the presence in the holy places of the leaders of religion,
which commence by leaving our native place with the intense desire for
visiting the holy places. Outwardly it is moving from a place but in
reality it is the movement of heart and spirit.
Ziyarah is the means to attain our heart's connection with the proof
(hujjah) of Allah, to keep ourselves at the disposal of the realm of
spirituality, blessing and bounties of the Holy Imam (a.s)
Ziyarah is to present oneself before the holy shrine of those great
immaculate personalities who devoted their lives struggling in the cause
of Allah and defending the rights of the people and propagating the
true Islam and pure monotheism.
Ziyarah is the presence before the burial place of the martyr and to
glorify and honor the martyr, who had sacrificed his life in the cause
of Allah and attained eternity by martyrdom.
Having the gnosis of the Holy Imam (a.s) and understanding the spiritual
stations and perfections of these holy and divine personalities, who
are selected and chosen by Allah, attain the reality of the presence of
the pilgrims in the holy shrine.
Rules of Ziyarah
The Ziyarah has certain manners and rules; here are some of them mentioned below:
To enter the holy shrine after performing Wudhu or Ghusl.
To wear clean, tidy and new clothes.
While going towards the holy shrine, the pilgrim should walk with peace
and dignity. The pilgrim should walk with humility by keeping the head
down and should develop the concentration of mind and presence of heart.
In the holy shrine, the pilgrim should be busy praising the Creator and
the heart should remember the greatness of Allah. Pilgrim should
continuously invoke blessings and salutations (Salawat) upon the Holy
Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him and his household) and his Holy Ahl
ul-Bayt (a.s).
In the holy shrine, the pilgrim should avoid vain talk and should abstain from altercation and hostile discussions.
The pilgrim when reaching the precincts of the holy shrine should stop
and seek the permission of entry from the Holy Imams (a.s).
The pilgrims should abstain from creating any sort of trouble in the
holy shrine and should abide by the instructions of the attendants of
the holy shrine.
When the pilgrim sees the holy burial chamber (dharih), before starting the recitation of ziyarah he should first recite Takbir.
Pilgrim should try his best to recite the ziyarah standing.
While reciting ziyarah the pilgrims' face should be directed towards
dharih and for the supplication (dua) the pilgrim should move toward the
upper part of the dharih and recite the dua while facing the Qiblah.
The pilgrim should recite the ziyarah only narrated by the Holy Imams
(a.s) for example Ziyarat -i- Aminullah and Ziyaratul-Jame’h
al-Kabeerah, and should abstain from reciting any non - authentic and
non-appropriate words in the Ziyarah.
The pilgrim should not recite the Ziyarah in a raised voice.
After the recitation of the Ziyarah, pilgrim should perform the two
rakah Salatul Ziyarah and present the thawab of it to the Holy Imam
(a.s).
After the Salatul Ziyarah the pilgrim should recite the recommended
supplications (dua) and then should pray to Allah Almighty to grant
everything good and beneficial to his relatives, friends and all those
who had requested him to pray for them in the holy shrine.
The pilgrim should recite the Holy Quran as much as possible and present
the thawab of it to the holy soul of the Immaculate Imam (a.s).
The pilgrim should pray to Allah Almighty to hasten the advent of Imam
al-Zaman Hadrat Mahdi (a.s) and to grant prosperity and success to Islam
and the Muslims in the world.
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1 -Ibn Qulawayh: Kamil al-Ziyarat, bab 101, p.303.
2 -Ibid, bab 101, p. 304.