The Arbaeen March (3)

Welcome to the third edition of this 7-part series titled “Arbaeen March” on the annual gathering in Karbala at the holy shrine of the Chief of Martyrs, Imam Husain (AS), the younger grandson and 3rd Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), on the traditional 40th day of the epic of Ashura.

If you remember, yesterday, while presenting to you an eyewitness account of this spiritual journey, we said the pilgrim on entering Iraq via the Iranian border of Mehran, first visited the holy city of Kazemain, north of Baghdad, and after performing pilgrimage to the blessed shrines of Imam Musa Kazem and Imam Mohammad Taqi (peace upon them) the Prophet’s 7^th and 9^th Infallible Heirs respectively, made his way towards another holy city, namely Samarra, where repose in eternal peace the Prophet’s 10^th and 11^th Infallible Heirs, Imam Ali Naqi al-Hadi and Imam Hassan Askari (peace upon them).

Samarra is located 124 kilometers north of Baghdad on the eastern banks of River Tigris. This city was capital of the usurper Abbasid regime for over three decades, but there are no traces of even the ruins of the palaces of the caliphs, let alone their graves. Today, Samarra enjoys worldwide renown because of the sprawling golden-domed shrine of the 10^th and 11^th Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt. The holy shrine, which is in the centre of the city, was in fact the house of the 10^th and 11^th Imams where they were laid to rest on achieving martyrdom through fatal doses of poison by the Abbasid regime, and which soon turned into a huge mausoleum housing their blessed tombs.

Before traveling to Iraq, I was doubtful of pilgrimage to Samarra due to what I heard about the security situation of the city. However, I made up my mind to pay homage to these two Infallible Heirs of the Prophet in Samarra and then leave for holy Najaf and the blessed shrine of the Commander of the Faithful, the Prophet’s Vicegerent, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS).

Samarra and its people had recently beaten back the attempts of the US-Saudi backed Takfiri terrorists to seize the city, but these Godless terrorists, who in 2006 and 2007 had blown up the dome and the minarets of the holy shrine, this time, managed to lob a few rockets and shells before their complete defeat at the hands of Iraq’s Hashd ash-Sha’bi or Popular Mobilization Units (PMU).

On the second day of my journey I set out for Samarra. It was near noon that I spotted the celestial golden dome of the grand mausoleum of the Two Imams. I got off the car and began walking toward the shrine while praying and supplicating to God Almighty with tears in my eyes. It is said by some of the great figures and scholars that the courtyard and shrine of Imam Hadi and Imam Hassan Askari (peace upon them) enlivens the spirit and the soul of the fortunate pilgrim.

From the very arrival at the mausoleum in Samarra, I was thinking of how soon I would have to leave the place as we had just two hours to perform the pilgrimage to the blessed tombs, and also visit the Sardaab or underground chamber. This is the place where the Lord of the Age, the Prophet’s 12^th and Last Infallible Heir, Imam Mahdi (AS) was born and brought up in secrecy, away from the prying eyes of the tyrannical Abbasid regime, which in view of the Prophet’s famous hadith that his 12^th Successor will end injustice and establish the global government of peace, justice and prosperity, the usurper regime was trying to prevent his birth.

Inside the holy shrine under the reconstructed golden dome – thanks to the joint efforts of Iranian and Iraqi artisans and devotees – is a pretty large silver lattice enclosure enclosing the graves of Imam Hadi and Imam Askari (peace upon them) as well as the graves of the two virtuous and chaste ladies, namely, Seyyeda Hakima, the sister of 10^th Imam and Hazrat Narjes, the wife of the 11^th Imam and mother of Imam Mahdi (may God hasten his reappearance).

A large number of people were standing at the Bab ul-Qibla (the gate facing the holy Ka’ba in Mecca) and reciting the special phrases as permission to step into the shrine. I accompanied the pilgrims who were entering the shrine. At that moment I remembered a hadith from the Prophet’s 8^th Infallible Heir, Imam Reza (AS), which reads, “Every Imam has a covenant with his friends and followers. This covenant is fulfilled by visiting their graves. And a person, who goes to their graves with the enthusiasm of pilgrimage while knowing their lofty status, will receive the intercession of the Imams on the Day of Judgment.”

Thus, every pilgrim should try to gain the most benefit from the countless blessings of the Infallible Imams as remedy for his/her spiritual ailments.

Reciting the Ziyarah or standard form of salutation to the Infallible Imams, I renewed my covenant with Imam Hadi and Imam Hassan Askari (peace upon them) and, in my prayers, I appealed to God to expedite the reappearance of Imam Mahdi before any other prayer.

All the pilgrims were engaged in prayer and pilgrimage, beseeching God for fulfilment of their lawful needs through intercession of the two Imams who rest in peace in Samarra. Then, after reciting the Ziyarah for the Two Infallible Imams, pilgrims performed the special two-rak’at prayer for each Imam. In the end, they recited the phrases of farewell: “O God! Resurrect us in his group; and keep us stable on his obedience; and safeguard us through his authority; and grant us his guardianship; and make us victorious over our enemies through his dignity; and place us, our Lord, among the penitent; O the most Merciful of the merciful.”

Nowadays, Samarra has turned into one of the symbols of resistance and its soldiers and volunteer forces have the honour of being called the defenders of the shrine. The martyrs among them are proud of guarding the sanctuary of the Ahl al-Bayt (Peace upon them).

I then went down the Sardaab and was indeed awed by the spiritual atmosphere of the place of birth of the 12^th Imam, who initially disappeared from here during the 69-year period known as Ghaybat as-Soghra or Minor Occultation before start of the present long and lengthy Ghaybat al-Kobra or Major Occultation, at the end of which by God’s Will he will reappear, along with Prophet Jesus, as the Saviour of mankind to establish the global government of peace, prosperity and justice. Amen The next day I left for Najaf.

RM/AS/ME