ETHICS OF ZIYARAT

            As we know that gifting the reward of the Ziyarat of the Holy Progeny (A.S.) to the holy threshold of Imam Mahdi (A.S.) is recommended, we will mention the ethics of Ziyarat in the following lines:

            Mohaddis e Qummi (R.A.) reports: There are many ethics of Ziyarat but we will mention only a few of them here:

            First: Take bath before leaving for the journey of Ziyarat.

            Second: Abandon all kinds of unnecessary and abusive conversations, as well as fights and arguments.

            Third: Perform Ghusl for the Ziyarat of every Imam and recite the narrated supplication while performing Ghusl.

            Fourth: Remain in the state of purification.

            Fifth: Wear new and clean clothes, and it is best to wear white coloured clothes.

            Sixth: While walking towards the Holy Shrines, take short steps, and walk with ease and dignity, with humbleness and humility, and bend your head downwards, and refrain from paying attention upwards and towards the surrounding.

            Seventh: Perfume yourself for all the Ziyarat except the Ziyarat of Imam Husain (A.S.).

            Eighth: While travelling towards the Holy Shrine, engage your tongue in the divine remembrance, exaltation, adulation, appraisal, and constantly recite Salawaat for Mohammad and his holy Progeny (peace be upon them).

            Ninth: Stand at the gate of the Holy Shrine and seek permission to enter the Shrine, and try to soften your heart with humility, and think about the virtues and mightiness of the godly person residing in that shrine, with the belief that he can witness him standing, hear him speaking and can respond to his greetings. He has to bear witness to all these things while reciting the supplication of entry permit.

            Then think about the love and kindness of his holiness (A.S.) extended towards his Shias and visitors, and ponder upon his own distressed condition and the oppressions he has committed with regards to those holy personalities, and think about the large number of sayings which he has neglected, and all the harms and sufferings that he has caused to these noblemen or their friends and devotees (which results in their affliction). If he observes his inner self properly, his feet will refrain from moving and his heart will turn humble and his eyes will begin to shed tears; this is the soul of the Ziyarat ethics.

            Tenth: Kiss the holy shrine and embrace the divine courtyard.^[1]

Shaheed (R.A.) has said: It is appropriate for the visitor to prostrate with the intention of prostrating before Allah (A.S.) with gratitude for helping him reach this divine place.

            Eleventh: Enter the holy shrine with the right foot and exit with the lefto one, just like we are asked to do upon entering and exiting a mosque.

            Twelfth: Stand near the holy Grave such that you shall be able to stick yourself to it. And it’s a wrong thinking that standing away from the grave is ethical; because sticking yourself to the grave and kissing it has arrived in the narrations.

            Thirteenth: While performing Ziyarat, face the grave such that the Qibla falls behind you. Apparently, this mannerism is specifically for the Ziyarat of the Infallibles (A.S.); after completing the recitation of Ziyarat, place your right cheek on the grave and supplicate with humility, then place your left cheek and exaggerate in supplication and show persistence. Then move towards the holy head and supplicate while standing in the direction of Qibla.

            Fourteenth: Try to perform the Ziyarat standing on your feet if there isn’t any excuse such as weakness or back ache or foot ache.

            Fifteenth: When you look at the holy grave, say ‘Takbeer’ before the recitation of Ziyarat. It is reported that whoever says ‘Takbeer’ before Imam (A.S.) saying: “La ilaaha illallaho wahdahu la shareeka lahu’ «لا إِلهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لا شَريكَ لَهُ»(There is no God save Allah, He is One, and has no partner), the divine Pleasure will be written for him.

            Sixteenth: Recite those Ziyarats that have been narrated from the Infallible Imams (A.S.), and refrain from the recitation of concocted Ziyarat –which has been added by a few weak-minded men from the society to the genuine Ziyarats and the feeble men begin to recite it. 

           Sheikh Kulayni (R.A.) narrates from Abdur Raheem Qaseer who said: I went to meet Imam Sadiq (A.S.) and said: My life be sacrificed upon you! I have concocted a supplication out of my mind.

            His holiness said:

                        “Keep your concoction away from me, whenever you are in need of something, seek shelter in the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H.) and offer two units of prayer, and send it as a gift to his holiness.”

            Seventeenth: Offer the Ziyarat prayer, and at least two units.

Late Shaheed (R.A.) said: If it is the Ziyarat of the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H.), the two unit prayer should be offered in the holy shrine, and if the Ziyarat is of the shrine of one of the Infallible Imams (A.S.), then the prayer should be offered near their graves, and it is permissible to perform the two unit prayer in the mosque of their shrines.

            Allama Majlisi (R.A.) says: In my view, if the Ziyarat prayer is offered behind the grave or towards the head region, it will be more appropriate. (And as offering prayer ahead of the grave of Imam is considered disrespect and unethical with regards to the mighty status of his holiness, hence it is not permissible).

            Eighteenth: Recite the chapter ‘Yaseen’ in the first unit and the chapter ‘Ar-Rahman’ in the second unit, if there isn’t any specific method explained for offering the Ziyarat prayer; and after offering the prayer, he should pray for all that comes to his mind and for his world and the hereafter, and for all the believers generally; because now it is closer to acceptance.

            Nineteenth: Late Shaheed (R.A.) has said: If someone enters a holy shrine and finds out that the congregational prayer is being held, then he should first offer the prayer and then perform the Ziyarat. (Only if he meets the conditions of a congregational prayer).

            Twentieth: Shaheed (R.A.) has regarded the recitation of holy Qur’an and the gifting of its reward to the holy soul of that Imam (A.S.) as one of the ethics of Ziyarat, and has said that the benefit of this deed will be in the favour of the visitor, and it is a form of honouring the visited person.

            Twenty first: Abstaining from all kinds of inappropriate speeches, usage of unnecessary language and involvement in all such worldly conversations which are rendered undesirable, forbidden and an obstacle for sustenance, and a cause of heart’s cruelty; specially in these holy shrines and under these glorious and valuable tombs regarding which Almighty Allah says in the chapter ‘Noor’:

«في بُيُوتٍ أَذِنَ اللَّهُ أَنْ تُرْفَعَ ... »

 “In houses which Allah has ordered to be raised”^[2] till the end of the verse.

            Twenty second: Do not raise your voice while performing Ziyarat, like mentioned in the book ‘Hadiya e Zaereen’.

            Twenty third: When he wished to return and exit the city, he should bid farewell with the Imam (A.S.), just as it is mentioned in the narration or some other way.

            Twenty fourth: He should return towards Allah and seek forgiveness for his sins, and improve his speech after returning from the Ziyarat compared to how it was previously.

            Twenty fifth: One should do charity with the servants of the shrine as much as possible, and it is appropriate for the servants of that holy place to be noble, religious, pious and lenient, and endure the behaviour he has to face from the visitors, and control his anger against them, and refrain from being harsh and rude towards them, and strive to fulfil the needs of the visitors, and guide the strange and unaware people if they have lost their way. In short, the servants should engage himself in providing all the necessary services, such as cleanliness, security of the visitors etc.

            Twenty sixth: The visitors should do charity with the poor but reputed people living in the vicinity of the holy shrine, specially the Syeds and the knowledgeable people who have left their homes and suffered the difficulties of poverty and anonymity, and have continuously lifted the flag of respecting the divine signs, or they possess such things that observing each one of them will be sufficient for the necessary aid for them and for improving their condition.     

            Twenty seventh: Shaheed (R.A.) writes that after a visitor is blessed with the virtues of the Ziyarat, he should leave that place to the earliest possible, so that he may have additional respect, honour and liking for returning to that place. He also said that when women wish to perform Ziyarat, they should compulsorily be separated from the men, and they should only perform Ziyarat. It is best for them to perform Ziyarat at night and should necessarily change your condition, i.e. they must change their beautiful and expensive clothes into cheap and inexpensive ones so that they are not recognized by others. They should come for the Ziyarat in a hidden manner that less number of people shall be able to sight and recognize them. It is also permissible for them to perform Ziyarat with men but it is undesirable (Makrooh).      

From the above discussion, we can understand the excessive badness and inappropriateness of the common tradition in which women beautify themselves with expensive clothes while they leave their houses in the name of Zirayat and interact with non-Mahram men in the holy shrines.

            Those women who sit towards the Qibla of men and attract them with their behaviour, and disturb the visitors and mourners in their worships, they will be considered among those who block the path of Allah. In fact, such Ziyarat performed by women is regarded highly undesirable, instead of an act of worship, and it is a means of their destruction rather than nearness.

            It is narrated from Imam Sadiq (A.s.) that Imam Ali (A.S.) said in a sermon addressing the people of Iraq:

يا أهل العراق نبّئت أنّ نساؤكم يوافين الرّجال في الطريق أما تستحيون؟

            “O’ people of Iraq! I have been informed that your women reach out for the men on the streets, and interact with non-Mehram men in the alleys and markets. Don’t you have shame?

            And said: لعن اللّه من لا يغار

“May Allah curse those who do not have shame”.

            Twenty eighth: It is appropriate that when the visitors are large in number, the visitor who reaches the grave first should perform Ziyarat quickly and clear the path for other, so that other visitors can also be fortunate enough to reach the grave.^[3]

            Twenty ninth: Upon arriving the holy places and pure shrines of the Prophet’s household (peace be upon them), it is the best opportunity for the visitor, as per the place and his situation, to pray for the hastening of the reappearance of Imam Mahdi (A.S.); therefore the honourable visitor should pay attention to this obligation in all the holy places.

            Thirtieth: As a man can perform the Ziyarat of Imam Mahdi (A.S.) from wherever he wishes, it is appropriate for him, after reciting the Ziyarat in the holy shrines, to pay attention towards Imam Mahdi (A.S.), and to purify his heart by reciting the Ziyarat of his holiness (A.S.), and perform his due obligation.

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