 I feel like I've become closer with the Ahlul Bayt, alaihi salam, especially Imam Hussain alaihi salam and Hazrat Abbas alaihi salam after visiting them twice. Now when I have problems, my problems seem so much smaller now and when I have difficulties I just close my eyes and picture myself and may know how to main and I think about and I reflect about where I was and and the beauty in the beauty my my relationship is much stronger I feel. I can feel it especially after the second trip. I'm more calm which is everyday life and I call them a lot more when I'm in trouble. I ask them to pray for me. I often listen to Ziyarat Ashura more than ever now. I put it on every morning when I'm getting ready for work or when I come home from work. Something tells me to put it on and listen to it. So I feel much more closer with the Ahlul Bayt, alaihi salam. On a personal level I do feel more close toward the Ahlul Bayt in terms of even from the moment from when I wake up they're the first thing that come in my mind as well as reading a lot more books, reading up about their history, about their families, their sons, their children, the way they dealt with life, specific prayers and that they used to do. When you say as-salamu alaika ya Amir al-Mu'mineen it was far away from where we are now. When we say as-salamu alaika ya Amir al-Mu'mineen he's just closer to us here. This is a blessing from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. As we know if we are with Amir al-Mu'mineen and always we read his fada'il, he will be with us. There are three places where Amir al-Mu'mineen will be with us. Number one when we are in Sakrat al-Maut. We are about to die. That is a difficult moment, no friend, no any doctor. Nobody can change the situation but Amir al-Mu'mineen says if you are with me and if you are truly my lover I will be with you at Sakrat al-Maut. Number two on the day when we are going to be resurrected. It's a difficult day. The day when Imam Sajjada alayhi salam says why can't I cry? When I look left and right I see everyone is busy because the day is a difficult day. Imam Amir al-Mu'mineen says I'll be with you on that particular day. And the third place he says when people are crossing the Surat it's a difficult place. I'll be with you on that particular day. After visiting the shrine of Imam Ali al-Rada alayhi salam and experiencing everything that I've experienced I as I'm there I just I wish that my family was there with me so they could see and experience everything that I'm seeing and I'm experiencing because you're there and you're just you're wanting to show them everything oh look here look there look at this and yet you're there alone but you're not alone. The Ahl al-Bayt is with you Imam Ali al-Rada alayhi salam is with you and when I went on Ziyara I went alone and subhanAllah even though you go alone you're not alone and you don't feel alone. And during Ziyara you make friends. I made friends lifelong friends that you will never forget and you will always keep in touch with and they really made you feel at home. On a personal level after visiting the shrine of Imam Ali al-Rada alayhi salam I feel I feel number one so much more attached to him. I mean personally I can't believe I was there and after my family just came back from Ergain I wished I was able to be with them because I feel like I just I just want to go back. You do truly leave your heart behind when once you leave all of the Ahl al-Bayt's comes and you really leave a you leave a piece of you behind and you just long to go back and you pray to Allah to grant you the chance to go back again to visit Ahl al-Bayt our Imam our master. After visiting Imam Ali al-Shrine he's inspired me in my life in so many ways. Number one in the way I treat people in my own patience and self-esteem the confidence I have in Islam and Ahl al-Bayt and just to actually just just to imagine that this is the man the most courageous the man that the only man to perform ghusl for the Prophet the man that was born in the best of places in the Kaaba the man that that that that got killed in the best of places in Sujood the closest you can get to Allah on this earth and once we reach the shrine of Imam Ali al-Salam the moment we saw the dome just a feeling of emotion just hits you and reality kicks in and at the same time you can't believe you're here you're seeing you're seeing our Imam's shrine and I remember when we entered the courtyard and are walking towards it at the moment I turned the corner I saw the Zariah of the of Imam Ali al-Salam you just emotion hits you I remember my my beard feeling being full of tears it's seeing all the people there emotional and making dua and you're wondering what everyone in this room is going through and everything what you wonder what they pray for their families some of the things that I pray for when I was at Imam Ali shrine I pray for the health of my family the strength of the Shia in this world because we're all being oppressed we're all in a time of a great oppression right now and I pray for the reappearance of our of Sahaba Zaman and I also pray for for all of our all of our alamat the the merajia may Allah lengthen their lives I pray for the defense of all our countries and our people and all the places of oppression like in Syria and Bahrain and Lebanon everywhere I was the first thing I said I was I was to I apologize to mama saying because I had promised the mama saying that I would put away sin that I used to commit and sadly I continued that sin so I was that was the first thing I said I said mama saying I'm sorry I'm here again would shame and regret to forgive me and to thank you that was it I didn't want anything else to forgive me and to thank you I left all my dua till the very last day um and every time I left the shrine um I always hope to come back the next day so I would I would talk to the Imam I'd be like Imam I'm just gonna go and come back no goodbyes I'm not I'm not gonna do goodbyes um that's how I always left the shrine but I was so I was just so ashamed of myself I remember when we walked to Karbala and we got to Ben El Hanemain I could not believe it I could not believe that I was in the land of Karbala in Ben El Hanemain once again invited to be in between the two shrines I could not believe it um and I want to go back inshallah inshallah get invited you know with the sins that we all have we try we try um it's really hard and I hope to God that Imam Hussein will invite us every year again and we can go back when we finally entered the shrine of Imam Hussein and my eye caught the the zariah of Imam Hussein I just I literally just paused in my spot I put my hand on the wall and I just you can't help but just cry and and and you can't imagine you can't believe that you're here you spend so much time the past 11 years of my life I spent reading about him seeing pictures reading his story and mourning him year after year during arbaeen and ashura as a family and teaching your son and your family and educating people about Imam Hussein and then to finally be there and lay your eyes on his shrine on his zariah this is the man that sacrificed the ultimate sacrifice the leaders of the youth of Jannah is right here in front of me I spent my whole life learning about him and now he's here in front of me it's unrealistic it's it's a such a spectacular feeling when I finally reached the and I managed to get my heart my hands around the zariah I I remember praying to him and telling him telling him oh my master Imam Hussein I salam I send my salams from your father Imam Ali alaihi salam I was just visiting him and I I asked him to pray for me upon your behalf in his behalf and I thanked him I remembered thanking him so much for everything he sacrificed for us Ya alaitana kundamak fa nafooza fawzan azima how I wish we were with you to win a great victory in victorious time I wish I was there for him when he called for help when he called for someone to be there with him that that's the ultimate sacrifice what he did and if it was not for him Allah knows what would happen to the shia today there may have not been any shia today the meaning of that call for help from Imam Hussein alaihi salam does not just mean someone going there and helping him during that time of sacrifice it also means the sacrifice that we we're living today especially out here in the west the oppression that everyone is going through the knowledge that we have to gain so that we can teach others the difference between true Islam and people falsifying Islam it's a way of life it's a way of teaching your kids the the sacrifices that we do in our life for our kids and our families the sacrifice we have in our works the the hardship that we go through in life with our marriage it's it's it's more generic it's not just the sacrifice on the day of Karbala it's it's a sacrifice of life giving our life to our to Allah and to and to tell him that we're servants for him and the Ahlul Bayt are our masters and we sacrifice ourselves for them we are their slaves after visiting the shrine of Imam Hussein alaihi salam to me he's like it's like a father he's like a fatherly figure to me beyond a fatherly figure the man that teaches the son the way to live life to be in prosperous to live a righteous life especially in the country like this in the west where there are so many distractions to keep in our minds the teachings of the Ahlul Bayt no matter where we go in any of life situations and never to forget the ultimate sacrifice that he made and no matter what we do in our life we can use that as an example the one thing I will never forget about this trip for Ziyarah was on our way to the shrine of Imam Hussein and Abu Fad Al-Abbas we did a three kilometer walk and they gave us the remember they gave us the option of going barefoot and putting clay on our faces and our clothing I found the barefoot thing okay but I found the clay a little bit strange to me personally but then they mentioned to us that once you put the clay on you'll feel more spiritual and they strongly recommend it I said you know what I'm here I'm here for Ahlul Bayt I'm their servant let me just do it for them I don't want to go there with just clean clothes I want to show them that I sacrifice things just to reach them so I let I put the clay on my face and my clothing I went barefoot and during that whole walk I can't remember I can't remember not not I can't remember a moment of not shedding tears for them I remember the last kilometer or half kilometer the last stretch to the to the shrine I was granted the chance to hold the flag and walk in the front and I remember the moment I saw the flag on top of the dome I just broke out in tears full of emotion and the more the more of the dome that showed and the more of the shrine that showed the more closer we got I felt such a strong attachment it's like a pole someone's pulling you there like you're just focused in on that one place it was so it was a very emotional time for me as well as everybody else around me and and as we got closer we entered into the into the courtyard of Imam Hussain and Abu Fadl al-Abbas between the haramain and I remembered people people of residence that lived in Iraq and people who were visiting Iraq for Ziyara they were running up to us and they were they were pulling the clay that's hardened up from our beards and from our clothing and rubbing it on their faces and their sons faces and their daughters faces and people running up and touching the flag and and even during our dua for Imam Hussain and Abu Fadl al-Abbas outside the shrines between the haramain people were still coming up to us and just rubbing and taking the the the the the the Trab of Karbala off of us and putting on their faces as a baraka doing doing the short walk the first thing I did was I was like I'm going to take off my shoes because when I went for al-Abbas I didn't take off my shoes it was my first experience and I was like you know if I go back the second time I want to experience walking to Karbala when no shoes on so that was the first thing I did and I was so excited so we started we started to walk and you know you get closer to Karbala and you see the red flags but then the first thing you see is the haram of Yabna Amir al-Mumineen and you start balling again and you know it's I can picture it every time I don't even have to close my eyes as I'm talking to you I can picture myself on the road walking and in front of me is the shrine of Yabna Amir al-Mumineen, Abbas it's the first thing you see and it's amazing it's it's amazing that that's the first thing you see Abbas that's the first thing you see and you're reminded of the Khaimegah where they used to have the tents and Abbas's tent was the first one so it all you you you just reflect you know he's the first one you see his tent was the first one he was always there for the Mammal Hussein al-Islam but when you're walking you just get so emotional you get so emotional you beat your chest much harder because you're like oh my god I can't believe I'm here for the second time for the second time I've given the permission to be in the land of Kalbala walking because not everyone is given that permission I have seen with my own eyes in Africa one gentleman he's so poor I can say he lives in a remote area in Africa but every year he gives kums how much 100 Kenya shillings that is I don't know even less than one one pound sterling but he makes sure that every year he gives that when we came to learn about this story actually I remember that particular movement she a brother in remote village of Africa how many times we battle with ourselves can I give can I not give how much can I give can I delay and we we find loopholes here and there not to give kums money but this lady is telling us that when you have sincerity the little you give is bigger in the eyes of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala it is not quantity it is the quality of ibadah which we need you are two rackets you are two dirham can be something big if your heart is pure and you do it for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala it was great to go to the shrine of baby shatita because she's just a normal person just like one of us and that's that's a great example of how much love she had for the Imam and how any of us can be like her and be so kind and helpful to the the other members of the community wherever you live no matter if you live in the Middle East or Canada America Europe you have to and that's she was really good at being being helpful to other people and helping people when we got there again we listened to a lecture by the sheikh sheikh ayub and we learned more about her after visiting the shrine of baby shatita in nashabur visiting this ordinary person just like you and i so devoted and loving and caring and toward the Ahl al-bayt especially Imam Musa al-Qadim alayhi salam and the fact that Imam Musa al-Qadim alayhi salam prayed the janaaza for her burial shows the level of worship that we can reach as a person as a regular individual baby shatita is an example to everyone living anywhere in the world that we can all reach a level of worship a level of spirituality that any ordinary person can leave you don't have to be a maasum one of the chosen ones to reach a certain level or to get something from the Ahl al-bayt if you have the love inside you for the Ahl al-bayt subhanAllah they will find their way to you to see someone like baby shatita a regular individual just like you and i reach this type of status and to actually have Imam Musa al-Qadim alayhi salam prayed the janaaza for her we as human beings living in this time where we're just waiting for Imam al-Zaman if we can all just hold on to the religion stronger and read more about the Ahl al-bayt and familiarize ourselves with the Ahl al-bayt and their teachings and their stories and the history especially the history it will grow a light will grow inside of us which will draw the Ahl al-bayt inshallah near more closer to us we live in the world which is full of temptations sometimes it's difficult for us to connect with the Imam of our time it is places like this we are in so inshallah we'll go inside do two rackets of namaz if it hadiyah to the Imam of your time how many times he has prayed for us just two rackets you give it a deal to the Imam of our time the benefit will come back inshallah our hearts will be pure and we'll be ready to be closer to our Mahdi inshallah we pray to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to make us be closer to the Imam of our time we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to make us be able inshallah to be closer to our Imam every day and every night inshallah we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to make us see the benefit of this ziyarah this must get them gone we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to make us inshallah to get the help and imdadat of Imam of our time inshallah when we die ya Allah we ask you to resurrect us with muhammad wa al-muhammar be rahmatika ya al-hamal rahimi Allahumma ziyarah to me with no doubt in my mind zero percent doubt zero regrets has this ziyarah of visiting the ahlul bayt bin of benefit to me and it's uplifting a breath of fresh air if you're in if you're in the time of your life or you're just questioning things or you're unsure of what to do in your life or you want that you want that knowledge gain the knowledge and the spirit and the level of love toward the ahlul bayt there is no doubt in my mind that this trip to visit our masters is definitely a benefit to anyone and everyone ziyarah has definitely changed my lifestyle has changed me quite a bit and i'm sure it will change me even more um every day every month every year from now on um i'm more relaxed i'm more calm i try my best to reflect more be careful with my words be careful with my thoughts um but i have a better connection with the ahlul bayt al-islam especially with imam hussain and amir al-momineen and yabna amir al-momineen um but obviously i'm sure if you ask my friends they'll see they'll be able to answer the question much better because i lived my life just similar to how i lived it before i mean i'm trying to make changes in my life um but the biggest if uh i mean i listened to ziyarah al-ashwar quite often now um i've began to read the quran the translation of the quran more um i have you know my du'az are accepted much faster which is really interesting i have a more hopeful a more thankful um and i again i cannot believe that i've gone to katabalat twice so i'm very thankful for my life for everything that i have i'm very thankful every time uh and i try to remind myself every time i open the door to my place where i am right now i go wow my god um you're so merciful i have my own place i have like walls i have there's a there's a roof um i have food in my fridge because when you visit places like that you obviously you see people who are less fortunate than you and it's a reminder every time i open that door it's a reminder ali be very grateful that you have a place because a lot of people don't a lot of people don't have the opportunity to um not even do ziyarah it's just to live life good you know to um benefit that everything that Allah has given us so it's changed me a lot um and inshallah it will change we change me even more but i've noticed small things about myself and i'm looking forward to life i'm i'm less nervous now actually i'm less i'm more chill you know i trust i put my trust in god more and i try when i go to bed i try my best to talk to him more so um so the second time i went to ziyarah we went to calvah lot and then we went to you on and then in mashat we went from najaf to mashat and then in mashat they have a lot of rings so it's it's the place for guys to buy rings so um we went with a whole bunch of different friends and every night we would check out different ring shops and then i had my eye on this ring for a few nights and then on my last night uh i purchased it three in the morning after going to you know i bought it and then i took it to the house i think it is on my finger and they're coming back from ziyarah you would not believe a lot of people complain on my ring and i have to explain where i got it from i have already met people who are 50 50 on the they're not sure if they should go they're like oh yeah i'm i want to go but this and that and i always tell them you just go you have to go like all this stuff i get it i mean no matter what we're always going to have problems be it financial problems be at the health problems this and that right that will always be there you can't delay it right that that will always be there but just go because you have to in order to understand life you have to go to the master you have to go to the master um and in order to understand a lot better you have to go to the ones that he loves the most yeah so karaballah is the land that is paradise on earth and if you want to soften your heart if you if you feel like you have a hard heart and you're you're not crying anymore that you're too stressed with life and you're running around nine to five this and that you've got to take some time off and go back recharge the batteries you know vacations are great hawaii this and that they're great but why not visit your mom first like i always i've always told my friends i want i would love to go to japan i just love japan i want to go but and and it's really interesting before i went to arabain i was like i want to go to japan but i was like you know ali how could you go to japan when you haven't even visited karaballah you know you're moms so now i'm like i want to go to japan but i want to i need i must go to hajj i have to do hajj first so um go to karaballah go to hajj go to mashad and reflect and connect with your mom because once you connect your heart will be lifted your spirit your soul will be lifted you will you will have more confidence if you have depression if you're just sad if you're just you've given up on life it's become a routine just go to your mom because at the end of the the day this world this materialistic world will end this will all go to it will all end uh it's it's the imams the ahlubate you know when we're putting that grave um they're the ones that will help us uh on our first night they're the ones that will be there for us and you know what i want to be in jannah i want to be closer to our mom um this life is so short so if you're on the fence go go just book some time and go and but make the intention speak to your mom when you're going to bed a mom please invite me um and i inshallah he will invite you and inshallah he'll invite myself and my friends and inshallah we'll go because one time twice three four times this is never enough there's actually a hadith if i'm not wrong by a mom sada alaihi salam if you can't go go twice a year and connect with mom hussein alaihi salam to the people who are postponing the ziyarah of the ahlul bait who are just unsure or uneasy of going whether it be because of safety or whatnot just remember that not only is Allah swt watching all of us and protecting all of us but you're going to visit the ahlul bait the people that gave you what you have today they risked their lives for you why not we risk our lives for them give them something in return if you're fearful of going and if that's what's stopping you just think about all of his family has been has all that all those companions have been slaughtered and he was standing there alone calling for help how how he must have felt on that day why not spend this time right now for us to answer his call on that day of ashura when he called for help let us be the answer to that call