By Zishaan Karim,
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
“I SEEK FROM YOU, O ALLAH …”
Ziyarat Ashoora, the source being Imam Swadiq (as) to Safwwan, or as per some narrations, Hadeeth Qudsiy, is a profound ziyarah and gives manifold benefits to the one who performs it.
What is Ziyarah? Ziyarah actually means a Visitation.
A visitation to whom the ziyarah addresses…
In that case the weekly ziyaraat shown by Imam Sajad (as) are visitations a person performs to the Masumeen as per the days allocated.
Ziyarah is to be performed, a Visitation where I am supposed to place myself in front of the Imam, as he is living as a shaheed or if it is the present Imam then he is hidden from my physical eyes, considering and acknowledging the fact that he can hear me and see me.
Now I realize where I had been going wrong.
In my opinion, Ziyarah was a recitation, and so I have been reciting it day in day out… Alas, that was a huge misconception
When I listen to famous recitors doing the ziyarah, they start with the intention
AZOORU SAYYIDEE… I am visiting my Master
And do not say, AQRAU ZIYARAH LISAYYIDEE… I am reading the ziyarah for my Master
When narrations laid emphasis on the performance of this ziyarah on a regular basis, the purpose was for me to reach a certain goal. However, to me, the effects of the ziyarah and the recitation itself turned into a goal and thus, I missed out on the goal that I was destined to reach.
It is like parents promising their teenage child a smart phone on getting an A grade certificate in her exams. For the parents, the Smart phone is a motivational factor for their child to learn and experience new things in order to move and progress well through her educational life.
However, for the teenager, the Smart phone becomes the focus and so, instead of getting deeper into learning and enjoying the experience of growth within her secular life, she starts cramming stuff to get the distinction.
At the end of exams, a distinction it is! And the smart phone is hers too. But she settled for the Smart phone and missed out on the actual purpose of learning and inner growth. Is she at a gain or a loss? I wonder….
