Horizons of Thoughts

The Purpose of Ziyarah

One of the fundamental requisites of understanding the purpose of ziyarah is to have a correct worldview. If we realize the purpose of human creation, and submit our volition to our intellectual decision, our deeds would be directed towards our eternal salvation. The purpose of human creation according to Qur'an and Sunnah is to worship Almighty Allah:

And I have not Created the Jinn and the Men save that they Worship Me Alone.[^30]

And worship without knowledge carries no meaning. This is because worship is not a mere exercise without any sense of devotion. 'Ibadah in the literal sense is defined as:

'Ibadah is when the servant places himself in the position of being a bondsman of his Lord.[^31]

And this cannot transpire without the knowledge of the Creator. It is by appreciating His real ownership [^32] of the entire world of creation, His Knowledge over all things, His Omnipotence and Omnipresence that the human being is overtaken and humbles himself down before the Allah. He also realizes that the true Lord and Master is none but His Creator, and thus he places himself in the station of being an obedient slave of Almighty Allah. Imam al-Hussein ('a), underlining the clear link between knowledge and worship is reported to have said:

Surely Allah ('a) did not Create His servants except for knowing Him, and when they know him, they would worship Him, and when they worship Him, it would suffice them from worshipping other than Him….[^33]

The worship that results from prior knowledge reaps knowledge itself. Knowledge before worship, however, is mostly intellectual ('aqli) and conceptual (tasawwuri). It is a the result of rationally establishing the existence of God and His Attributes as well as the utter poverty and dependence of the entire creation on His Infinite Existence.

Having realized this, the impartial servant worships with veneration and awe. If such worship was out of sincerity, he is availed with a higher form of knowledge, which is beyond the realm of intellect. It is known in the language of traditions as 'yaqin (conviction)' and 'the vision of the heart' which is knowledge by presence (al-'ilm al-huzuri). The following verse of the Qur'an alludes to the close link between worship and conviction:

And worship your Lord so that conviction comes to you [^34].

In some of the ziyarat taught to us by the infallible Imams ('a) we are taught to address the Imams declaring that they had attained the exalted station of yaqin through sincere worship. Consider the following examples:

1.In one of the ziyarat of the Holy Prophet (s) we are taught by Imam 'Ali ('a) to address his noble being as follows:

…And I bear witness that you gave counsel to your nation and struggled in the way of your Lord, and worshipped Him until conviction came to you…[^35] 2. In another ziyarah we address Imam al-Hussein ('a) as follows:

…O Aba 'Abdillah, I bear witness that surely you conveyed what you were ordered by Allah (the Invincible and Majestic) and other than Him you never feared anyone, and you struggled in His way, and worshipped Him truthfully until conviction came to you…[^36] 3. In one of the ziyarat of Imam al-Riza ('a) we are taught to address him as follows:

…I bear witness that you kept prayer upright and gave the poor tax and invited to what was good and forbade the evil and worshipped Allah sincerely until conviction came to you; peace be upon you O Aba al-hasan…[^37]

Having realized this, our ziyarah should serve as a catalyst to earn the exalted station of appreciating the truth by the vision of the heart. And the path towards this endeavor is to be a true slave of Almighty Allah. In other words, the ziyarah should be a means of uniting with Abu 'Abdillah (an appellation depicting the true slave-hood of Imam al-Hussein ('a)).

And this can easily be attained after we understand the meaning of the ziyarah and exemplify its teachings in ourselves. If we limit the ziyarah for our lower ambitions in life, there would be no difference between us and the laity who have busied themselves with the world of matter. Therefore, the za'ir should bear an exalted aspiration and aim for a great transformation, in order to unite with the spirit of al-Hussein ('a).

Readers do appreciate that the reason why the allies of the contemporary formalists hamper us from expressing our sorrow near the graves of the infallible leaders, is because they have realized the revolution it can create in the hearts.

Imam al-Hussein ('a) is a symbol of uprising against falsehood even at the cost of the sacrifice of every possession. Our ziyarah which is an endeavor of unity in the real sense therefore should be a declaration of readiness and not merely a habitual recitation.

Assalamu 'alayka

The word al-Salam is commonly translated as "the Peace". Its literal import, however, means:

…to be free from calamities, whether apparent or hidden [^38].

Therefore we are seeking the state of freedom from every kind of calamity for Imam al-Hussein ('a), whether that be apparent or hidden. It should however be understood that the Imam already enjoys the state of salam and is in fact one of the manifestations of Allah's Attribute al-Salam. The Holy Prophet (s) in his nocturnal ascent (al-Mi'raj) came across a group of Angels, Divine Apostles and Prophets, and it was said to him:

O Muhammad, send benedictions on them, and he (s) said: al-Salamu 'alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh (May the peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon you). Thereupon Allah Revealed unto him: "the Peace and Benedictions, and Mercy and Blessings, are you and your progeny.[^39] Hence seeking Salam for him would mean seeking higher degrees of the state of Salam because the levels of Salam have no end. Only Almighty Allah enjoys the Absolute State of Salam:

…He is Allah, other than Whom there is no god, He alone is the Sovereign, the Most Holy, the Peace [^40]

1. In a tradition lady Fatima Zahra ('a) is reported to have said:

Surely only Allah is the Absolute Peace and from Him alone comes peace and unto Him alone returns Peace [^41] 2. The Holy Prophet (s) is reported to have told Lady Khadijah ('a) once that 'This is Gabriel, who sends his Salams unto you', wherepon she replied:

Allah is the Absolute Peace and to Him alone belongs Peace and upon Gabriel be Peace [^42] 3. We are taught in a supplication [^43] to say:

O Allah, You alone are the Peace, and from You Alone is Peace and unto You alone return peace 'Allama Tabataba'i in his monumental al-Mizan, says:

And the original meaning of the word al-Salam according to what al-Raghib indicated in al-Mufradat is to be free from adversities, both apparent as well as hidden, and unto this meaning return the import of al-Salam in all its derivatives… And al-Salam is from the Divine Attributes, for His Exalted Essence is good in itself, which does not have any speck of evil.[^44]

But since 'the Absolute Peace' [^45] loves us, He laid a path open in front of us a path towards His Absolute Perfection, and thus always calls us towards the same:

And Allah invites to the abode of Peace…[^46]

The definite article 'al' which connotes "al-ta'rif" (determination) can be taken to allude to a specific salam- the Salam that comes from Allah. This is because the sentence "al-Salamu 'alayka" is taken here as an invocative statement (al-du'a'). And because no kind of perfection comes from anyone save Allah, for He Alone is the Principal Cause, we are only permitted to seek perfection from Him in the independent sense. This does not however hamper us to employ the means that He has set for us to attain the perfections. Therefore when we say: Al-Salamu 'alayka [^47] we mean: May Allah Bestow you with the state of Peace.

'Alayka Alludes to Enveloping Peace

Another linguistic intricacy worthy of consideration is that the preposition علي 'ala in Al-Salamu 'alayka denotes the sense of envelopment [^48]. In other words we are asking Almighty Allah to Envelop Imam al-Hussein ('a) with the state of Peace and freedom from every apparent and hidden calamity that is according to his noble essence. Therefore Al-Salamu 'alayka would mean:

May Allah Envelop you with the state of Peace Al-Salamu 'Alayka as a Declarative Statement Sometimes however the article al is taken to allude to the visitor (za'ir), in which situation the statement is no more invocative, but declarative [^49]. In other words, when the za'ir says al-Salamu 'alayka, he means:

Salami 'alayka

I am [^50] at peace with you.

In other words he is trying to assure the person who is visited that his intentions, words, and deeds would be coherent with the spirit of peace and he would not do anything that would cause harm or disturb him. Instead he would manifest in himself things that would be geared to seek his protective physical as well as spiritual life.

This is one of the highly important stations for the za'ir, since he is in fact reasserting his covenant with Almighty Allah, by informing his beloved Imam ('a) that besides avoiding any thing that would cause harm to him ('a), he would do those things that would manifest the spirit of peace as well.

One of the things that does not concur with the spirit of al-Salam is to sin. If one engages in sin, and utters the above statement, then he has not maintained the spirit of the Salam that he has uttered, the reason being that the fourteen infallibles ('a) have the ability to witness the sins of their followers too. Look at the following narrations:

1. We humbly express in the well-known ziyarat al-Jami'a al-Kabira:

…You are the upright path and the Witnesses of the Abode of Extinction [i.e. the world…][^51] 2.Imam al-Sadiq ('a) is reported to have said:

Believers referred to in the verse "And say, Go on working: Allah will see your conduct, and His Apostle and the believers [as well]" are the Immaculate Imams ('a) [^52]

Hence the Imams ('a) can behold our mistakes and wrong deeds, and when they do so, they get upset:

1.Imam al-Sadiq ('a) is reported to have said:

What is the matter with you? Why do you displease the Messenger of Allah. Thereupon a man asked him: 'And how do we displease him? The Imam ('a) said: 'Don't you know that your actions are presented before him; and when he finds a sin in them, he is displeased; therefore do not displease the Messenger of Allah (upon whim be peace) and make him happy.[^53]

2. Ibn Aban al-Zayyat reports:

I said to al-Rida ('a): Pray to Allah for me and my family, and he said: Don't I do that? I swear by Allah surely your actions are presented to me every day and night. "I was extremely amazed at that," says al-Zayyat. Then the Imam ('a) said: Do you not read the Book of Allah, the Invincible and Majestic, Who says: (And say, Go on working: Allah will see your conduct, and His Apostle and the faithful [as well])? I swear by Allah 'Ali bin Abi Talib is among the 'the faithful' mentioned in this verse.[^54]

Hence engaging in sin, being inconsistent with the spirit of Salam, makes us violate our covenant with the Imam ('a). Those, therefore who recite their ziyarat without considering this vital point, are either hypocrites or weaklings who like to utter lies infront of the Imam ('a). There is a group of sinful reciters, however, whom the self that invites one to evil (al-nafs al-ammara) has weakened, but are nevetheless hopeful for change.

Whenever such people recite the ziyarah, they should experience utter humiliation, and always seek change. They must realize that in order for one to prosper and change, he/she should perpetually seek Divine Succor and make a firm resolve to leave all those things that are forbidden, however minute they may seem to appear.