Qom and the Virgin of the City

The Etiquette of Ziyara

Knowing the etiquette of ziyara is considered as one of the necessary matters that a visitor has to pay attention to in order to gain the reward of his ziyara.

Here are some of these etiquettes:

1. Taking a bath before offering the ziyara.

2. Doing ziyara with a pure spirit and being ready for repentance.

3. A visitor has to have done wudu’[120] and worn pure and perfumed cloths.

4. Proceeding with utmost sincerity, devoutness, submission, mentioning Allah and walking with short steps.

5. Going in with the right leg (the first step) and coming out with the left.

6. Mentioning (blessing and peace upon Muhammad and his progeny) when seeing the pure tomb.

7. Stopping-during ziyara- near the head (of the buried one in the tomb) and saying-before reciting the ziyara- Allahu akbar (Allah is great) thirty-four times, subhanallah (glory be to Allah) thirty-three times and alhamdu lillah (praise be to Allah) thirty-three times. Such it has been narrated from Imam ar-Redha (s).

[120] Wudu’ is a ritual ablution that precedes offering prayers.

8. Putting the right and left sides of the face on the pure tomb and praying Allah to grant one what he likes.

9. A visitor is to offer two rak’as prayer and to gift its reward to Lady Fatima al-Ma’ssooma (s).

10. Offering the prayer of jama’a**[121]** before ziyara if it is the time for the due prayer.

11. Being busy with asking Allah to forgive one, invocating upon Allah for oneself and for the other believers and reciting the Qur’an, du’a and ziyara that have been narrated from the infallible imams (s).

Finally we refer to two important points:

1. When having the honor of doing the ziyara in the shrines of the infallible imams (s) and their children, we have to avoid the conducts that do not fit the believers like prostrating when seeing the tomb because such doings please neither Allah nor the one in the tomb. Such doings just give our enemies excuses to accuse us and fabricate lies against us.

2. Muslim women and young girls, when visiting the saints of Allah, have to care much for the Islamic uniform and not to appear in a way that dissents from the Islamic principles; otherwise there will be no use of this ziyara.

[121] Offering the prayer together behind an imam.