3. The Holy Mosque of Jamkaran

The foundation of this mosque was laid in Jamkaran, Qom, as per the special command of his holiness, Imam Mahdi (a.s.), in the state of awakening.

     As per the saying of the noble and virtuous Sheikh, Late Hasan bn Mathla e Jamkarani: I was asleep in my house on Tuesday night, 17^th Ramadan (393 Hijri). Just when midnight arrived, a group of men came to my doorstep, woke me up and said: “Wake up and answer the call of his holiness, Imam Mahdi (a.s.) as he has summoned you.

            I woke up and readied myself to leave. I said: Permit me so that I may wear my shirt. Suddenly a voice came from the direction of my door saying that it is not your shirt. Thus, I kept it aside and picked up my trouser. Then I heard a voice saying that this trouser does not belong to you, pick your own trouser. I threw that trouser aside, picked my own trouser and wore it. I stood up to pick the keys of the door but heard a voice say that the door is open.

            When I came towards the door, I saw a group of elders and greeted them. They answered my greeting and welcomed me, then took me to a place where the present mosque is located. When I looked carefully, I found a throne whereupon nice carpets were spread, beautiful pillows were kept and a youth of about thirty years was resting his back on them.

            An elderly man was present near him and was reading the book he held in his hand for him, and more than sixty men were standing around him offering prayer in that place. Some wore white clothes and some were in green. That elderly man was Prophet Khizr (A.S.), he indicated towards me, and then the holy Imam (a.s.) summoned me with my name and said:

            Visit Hasan bn Muslim and tell him: “You have illegally populated this land from several years and you exercise cultivation on it, and we destroy it; it has been five years that you have cultivated this land and are busy with it even during this year; but you are not permitted to access this land any further and you should pay back all the profit you have earned by cultivating and farming on this land, so that a mosque is built on it.

            And also tell him that: This is an invaluable and honorable land which has been chosen by Allah (s.w.t.) from among the rest of the places, and He has bestowed it with superiority and dignity over the rest. You have acquired it as your own land and as its punishment, Allah (s.w.t.) has made you suffer the death of two of your young children, but you did not become aware of this ignorance. If you do not abide by this command, the Divine wrath shall come after you from a direction you will not reckon.”

            Hasan bin Mathla says: I said: O’ my Master; I must have a sign and indication with me because people do not accept something that is without proof and sign, and they will not approve of my word.  

Imam (A.S.) said:

“We will perform this act here, you shall go and deliver our message to him. Also visit Syed Abul Hasan[1] and ask him to come and determine the boundaries of this land, then receive the benefits of the past years from Hasan bn Muslim and give it to the people for the construction of the mosque. If you fall short of a sum of money for the mosque’s construction, take the deficit from the harvest of a land situated in Rehaq, Irdehal, and complete the construction. We have endowed half of Rehaq for the construction of this mosque so that its harvest is taken every year and spend on the construction of the mosque. 

Ask the people to show attraction towards this place and visit it with ardent desire, regard it honorable and majestic and offer four Units prayer here.” [2]

Hasan bn Mathla says: “I said to myself: It seems this is the same place which you used to consider as the Mosque of Imam Mahdi (a.s.) while you were indicating towards the youth resting his back on the pillows, then that youth indicated towards me to leave. [3]

            The Holy Mosque of Jamkaran is one of the most spiritually significant places on the surface of earth and those who get the opportunity to visit this holy place, should observe all the ethical values attached to this place and be aware of the spiritual importance and significance of this place, so that by visiting this blessed place, they shall revive their spirit and soul with its spirituality and enlighten their inner selves.

            We will now mention a few points regarding this spiritual place that are worth knowing for those who are fortunate enough to visit it. They are as follows:

• In the state of awakening, Imam Mahdi (a.s.) commanded a noble man from his lineage, Syed Abul Hasan Ar-Reza, by the medium of Hasan bn Mathla e Jamkarani, to lay the foundation of this Holy Mosque. In all the sources and books, it is mentioned that this incident took place in the state of awakening, not in sleep.
•  Hundreds of years prior to the command given by Imam Mahdi (a.s.) regarding the foundation of this mosque, Imam Ali (a.s.) had prophesied regarding it, and as per the narration mentioned in the book ‘Anwar ul Musha’shaeen: 454/1’, he has stated that the commander of the boundaries of existence and the leader of the worlds, his holiness Imam Ali bn Abi Talib (a.s.) has given a detailed description of this place in one of his prophesies.

In that narration, while mentioning the excellence of the Holy Mosque of Jamkaran, he has foretold such secrets which cannot be accepted and endured by everyone.

• The Holy Mosque of Jamkaran shall be the biggest power base, after Kufa, in the era of the appearance of Imam Mahdi (a.s.) for his holiness, and Imam Ali (a.s.) has said in that tradition that:

At the time of appearance, the flag of the soldiers of his holiness (a.s.) will be hoisted at the top of a white mountain, which is the same Mount. Khizr near the Jamkaran Mosque.

• A significant point worth paying attention is that the Holy Mosque of Jamkaran not only holds its greatness and importance at the time of the appearance of the Holy Imam (a.s.) and will be the powerful center and a place of spiritual transformations, but will also have such excellence at the time of his occultation.

We can understand this point from the words of his holiness, Imam Mahdi (a.s.), as he said: “Whoever offers this prayer in this place, would as if offer it inside the House of God”. And the House of God is not just the center of earth’s magnetic system and affects the human being on a physical and spiritual aspect, but it is built against the Bait ul Ma’moor and the spiritual places of the skies and heavens.

            Therefore, due to his existence inside the House of God and by offering prayers inside it, the ways of connections become wide open for a human being and he can find himself in contact with the spiritual and physical gravities of the earth and the sky, and can place himself on the verge of those unseen waves that can bring about an immense transformation in his body and soul, and the actual area of the Jamkaran Mosque holds these invaluable impacts as well.

            The words of Imam Mahdi (a.s.) also implicate on this point as he said: “Offering prayer in this place is similar to offering prayer inside the House of God”.

            Verily, there remains untold secrets regarding the actual area of the Jamkaran Mosque which are unknown to the people. And just like Imam Ali (a.s.) said:

ما من عِلمٍ إلّا وأنا أفتحه ، وما من سرٍّ إلّا والقائم يختمه

            “There isn’t any knowledge but that I will open it, and there shall not be any secret but the Qaa’em (a.s.) will bring an end to it (reveal it)”.[4]

The construction of the Holy Mosque of Jamkaran, its secret and greatness, have already been prophesied by Imam Ali (a.s.) and all its secrets will be revealed at the time of the appearance of Imam Mahdi (a.s.), if Allah wills.

We will revive the thoughts of that glorious time in our minds and we are hopeful from Allah (s.w.t.) that he will bring forth the time of that enlightening appearance to the soonest possible, so that all the secrets of the universe is unveiled by him and his seamless knowledge, justice and righteousness becomes widespread in the entire world. 

• Those who visit this holy sanctuary should understand that they have set forth for an extremely sacred place, which is under the observation of Imam Mahdi (a.s.), and they themselves are in the enlightening presence and threshold of his holiness, in such a way that as if they have entered his holiness’ house and have made themselves available for his service.

Therefore, they should observe the conditions of visiting this place more than other places and understand that the knowledge and awareness of Imam Mahdi (a.s.) has complete surrounded them, and is fully aware of not just their actions, behaviors and dialogues, but also their thoughts, perceptions and intentions, as well as their hidden thoughts and feelings of their unconscious conscience and inner-self.

Hence, they must be very careful about our actions, speech and thoughts because they are the visitors of the Holy Mosque of Jamkaran, thus the ethical and visiting conditions of this place should be observed by them even before their arrival.

One of the ethical rules for someone who gets the opportunity to visit this holy place is that he should determine his motive behind visiting this Holy Mosque, and should choose the best and most significant motive for himself. Then he should not abide himself by the minor motives or the materialistic and physical issues; and he should understand that the most significant issue of this age and time is the hastening of the appearance of Imam Mahdi (a.s.).

This is because at the time of the appearance of his holiness, all the physical and spiritual difficulties of human beings will be eliminated and sadness will not find its way inside the houses anymore. Hence, the best of supplications that can be done in that holy place is for the deliverance of human beings from all sufferings and difficulties. Thus, supplication and imploration for Imam Mahdi (A.S.) and for his immediate appearance and relief should be the main motive behind visiting the Holy Mosque of Jamkaran. 

 

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