 Well I came onto this Ziyara trip because I'm sure every single shia around the world wishes to go on this Ziyara trip and alhamdulillah I have been privileged to be invited on this Ziyara trip and I wanted to come because I've actually been to Karbala before and Najaf and visited the shrines of Imam Hussein and Imam Ali and Sayyid but at the time I was actually a Sunni and now that I have found the path of the Prophet's family the Ahlul Bayt it's as though I felt like I needed to revisit in order to maybe pledge, re-pledge my allegiance to the members of the family of the Prophet because when I came before I didn't know anything about Imam Hussein or I didn't know anything about Imam Ali or Sayyid al-Fadal al-Abbas or anything about Karbala or Ashura it was just mainly I was visiting I didn't know what I was doing actually but now it's a whole different and new experience and new feeling and truly amazing feeling to be honest so the reason why I decided to go to Ziyara was actually my family they've been going for several several years now and it's always been in my prayers that I would pray to God that maybe he would allow me to go to Ziyara and thankfully this year he granted me and gave me that privilege to go see the family of the Prophet peace be upon them all and it's just such a privilege and amazing experience that really you can you can't really explain unless you see it yourself I found lately within the last couple of years I've been feeling a lot more religious I've been getting a little more closer to God and just been doing a lot more readings about the Prophet and his family peace and blessings be upon them all and I felt like that really implanted something inside me kind of driving me to want to go to do Ziyara and and and go and see the history of of Islam well first of all I came for alabain 2014 and that was my first time to Iraq Najaf Karbala Kazemain and we did the walk for for three days with spiritual journeys and it was amazing it was my first time it was absolutely it's really hard to explain the feeling the emotions the environment and if you haven't if there's anyone out there who hasn't done the walk inshallah we'll do it all again 2015 so I experienced that and then when I went back home back to Toronto Canada the first thing I wanted to do was to come back again as soon as possible because I believe once you go to Karbala you leave your heart there all of it or half of it parts of it you leave it there and forever so when I went back home I really missed it I really really missed it and I told my mother the first thing I said was please pray for me I want to go back to Karbala right and amazingly it happened again and the first time I went I could not believe that I was actually in the middle of being alhamdulillah and then the second time I still can't believe I'm here for the second time within four or five months so I just really wanted to come back and I just want to be I felt really close to God and the Imams and the Ahlul Bayt and then this time around I wanted to come back again and feel that again feel that love again and inshallah when I go back home I mean I've already seen change within since arabain and inshallah I'll see bigger changes in me that I have to change about myself the following day after visiting the shrine of Imam Ali we went to Wada Salam which is the biggest cemetery in the whole world and visiting this cemetery was something different like it's literally the size of a city as a cemetery and knowing that in Prophet Hud and Prophet Saleh are buried there which is also so close to the shrines of Imam Ali and Prophet Adam and Prophet Mu'noor and knowing that all these great personalities and great characters in the islamic world are buried amongst each other is a big thing also at Wada Salam pretty much like visiting any cemetery in the world it reminds you of death and how you have no idea as to how long you're gonna live and you could be put six feet underground at any moment in life and knowing that that cemetery hadith say that narration say that if you're buried there all your sins are wiped out and I actually had the experience of visiting a friend's father who was buried there and we went to visit him and knowing that I can actually relate to someone that is buried here actually it impacted on me because it's it's different like knowing that this cemetery is the greatest cemetery in the islamic world and to be buried there would be such a big privilege and an honor and Allah irhamu his father may he be resting in peace when visiting Imam Ali shrine it was it was a tough journey getting there first of all and then seeing the whole mosque was one feeling and then entering the doors was another feeling and seeing the shrine from the doors was as though you every step you're getting closer and closer and then as you approach the cage of where Imam Ali is actually buried there's hundreds of people surrounding Imam Ali and wishing to touch the burial chamber and it's actually quite tough to get in there but once you actually get in there and touch the cage it says that I felt an energy strike out and I actually had goosebumps run through my whole body and it was just a feeling of relief that Alhamdulillah like I have finally reached here and I have come to visit my Imam and it builds on the relationship with Imam Ali because like you read about Imam Ali you hear about so many stories and so many hadiths and how he was so close with the prophet and how patient he was in the time of the other caliphs and to see to know that he is the second greatest man to ever walk on the face of the earth and me having the privilege of going to visit him it's just creates a whole new connection like there's only so much you can connect outside or being away and then when you actually get to him it's a whole different feeling you truly feel his energy strike from the shrine or not knowing about his history I would actually advise that you learn about his history to know what kind of a man he was to appreciate your visit towards him but not knowing anything about him and coming to visit him personally I did it I didn't know anything about him only I knew him as the fourth Khalifa but then coming to visit him it I felt a sense of calmness and relaxation and I saw that the mosque was a beautiful mosque and they did so much intricate detail in it got me curious on what kind of a personality must be buried here for them to go through so much effort into building something so great for this man but in order to truly feel the emotions and feeling I really advise that you read about him and know about him and read his history another thing about visiting the shrine of Imam Ali was as a Muslim I didn't even know that Prophet Noah and Prophet Adam were buried next to him and this is actually a huge thing like so you're not actually only visiting Imam Ali you're visiting Prophet Adam and Prophet Noah and this brings importance on all three characters it shows the importance of Nabi Noah and Nabi Adam as Prophet and Imam Ali as a man to be buried next to Prophet and the Prophet to be buried next to him as he being the second greatest man to walk the earth when I visited Imam Ali peace be upon him his house his home it was a feeling I could not explain just to just imagine that our first Imam Imam Ali peace be upon him was walking around where you were walking around and thinking that maybe you placed your feet in the same spot he placed his foot that's just beyond beyond any feeling you can actually comprehend it's a it's something that everyone would really have to experience one thing that really made me feel attached to Imam Ali's house peace be upon him was the fact that I I've always imagined myself and wishing and hoping I could have been with him through his life and to actually be there in his home it's kind of it's as close as you can get to him in reality being being an Imam Ali's house also made me think of all the trials and tribulations he's been through all the stresses he's had especially after the death of the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him and the one thing that I feel affected me the most is what he must have felt in that home after Fatima peace be upon him passed away the walk was amazing this time around the first time when I did it in 2014 I had my shoes on and I always followed Fatima's number one because I walk fast I always followed him and amazingly he gave me the flag towards the end of when we were very close to Karbala and I have pictures of it and it was such a great experience to actually hold the flag of Hazad al-Bas and to walk that and then I really wanted to experience that again and the same thing happened to me but this time around I wanted to walk without my shoes off to experience what Hazad al-Zaynab went through I mean we'll never truly experience what they went through and the whole walk and everything but I just wanted to experience it a little bit and inshallah I want to do the walkie in 2015 and inshallah I want to do it without shoes so the first thing I did was I took off my took off my shoes and I started the walk and then Firuze gave me the flag again and that was such an incredible experience what an honor it's it's really hard to explain it was amazing to hold the flag and walk to be the first one to see the shrine of Hazad al-Bas and it's just see the thing is Arabain Imam Hussain al-Islam it doesn't it's all emotional it's your heart right it's ish it's love there's nothing else that can explain the walk to any you have to come and experience it on your own right so it was really emotional for me again and to feel stones underneath your feet when you're walking you do feel it and and you kind of think about what Hazad al-Zaynab went through and it's just an incredible experience words cannot describe it explain it when starting the walk from outside of Karbala heading towards the shrines of Imam Hussain peace be upon him and Sayyed's father al-Abbas peace be upon him the reason for this walk was to try and have a small intricate taste of what Sayyad al-Zaynab and the rest of the Prophet's family would have been feeling when they had to walk for three days and they walked barefoot and we did so and we put some mud from the shrine of Imam Hussain and this was in order to basically humble ourselves as much as we could we're normally in clean clothes now we've dirtied our clothes we're normally in comfortable shoes and we're walking barefoot and initially the first half an hour hour it's very simple you think you know but then after two hours you start to really feel the throbbingness and the rocks and the gravel digging into your feet and your soul is hurting and thinking about what Sayyad al-Zaynab would have been feeling walking for three days barefoot is I couldn't even picture or imagine like I struggled to do three hours and Subhanallah she managed to do three days and as we're walking you feel tired and then there's this one corner you turn and you're starting to feel weak and drained and then you see the dome of Sayyad al-Abbas and Subhanallah it's like a burst of energy reapproaches and then you continue your walk and then actually reaching the shrine was a whole nother feeling it's like a sense of relief so how they did it for three days to actually walk around Karbala and to visualize and see where the family of the Prophet where they were martyred really paints a picture in your mind and really adds something really emotional deep inside it's hard to explain to actually visualize the battle itself through our gatherings that we have really really touches you emotionally and to visualize and picture the martyrdom of Hazrat Abbas may peace and blessings be upon him and Ali Azhar and Ali Akbar peace and blessings be upon them is just a really sad experience on our trip to Al Furat where the water of Hazrat Abbas peace and blessings be upon him where he went to go gather the water for the women and children who were in the tents thirsty to actually understand and imagine what he went through traveling there on his own and all the enemies that he overcame on his way there and on the way back and to actually picture him filling up the canister with water and not drinking from it remembering that his remembering that the horses were thirsty and his the women and the children were thirsty and we pour the water back in and how he was martyred in that area is something really touching and really really emotional that we should all really experience in our lifetime after visiting the furat i felt like that trip really made really changed my life in the fact that i believe you appreciate things more in life for example the water when you get thirsty think of think of the family of the prophet on the day of Karbala on the day of ashura to understand what they went through the pains they went through the tribulations they went through the thirst and hunger they must have went through it's something that really really touches someone emotionally and really everyone should should experience experience this once at least in their lifetime the holy prophet says religion is how you deal with other people it's not for me to have only long beard and short trousers and for me to cover myself and for me to pray too much after long journey iraq karbala naja we finally take off for iran to visit our eighth imam imam ridah may peace be upon him and the first site i actually had of his dome or mosque you could say is from the airplane it's so huge that it actually stands out like you would never believe from the airplane and to know that i finally reached another imam to visit is well i haven't actually reached there yet but to see him was you could already feel a connection and then when we landed and then we had to pass through the airport and come to the hotel it was already maybe about two two thirty in the morning and then we heard the leader the leaders of spiritual journeys tell us that you have one hour to take your bags up and rest a little bit and at three thirty in the morning we will be heading towards the shrine for ziyara it came to a bit of a shock to all of us but there is no way in the world that anyone is going to turn down going there at three in the clock in the morning so exactly what we did we packed our bags had a little bit of rest and then off we went walk to the shrine of imam ridah and the entering the doors of the mosque it's from the door to the entry of the mosque to the door of the shrine to the door of his cage burial is a long walk it's a huge place and it's a different feeling to visiting imam hussein and saith fadal abbas it's it's calming and it's peaceful and it's relaxing and you feel a different energy and it's a different sense of spirituality that runs through you you know imam hussein may peace be upon him it's more sad and upset and knowing what he went through and knowing the trials and tribulations he had compared to imam ridah it's it's a completely different feeling it's a calming atmosphere and touching the shrine was also calming it just relaxes you many miracles have had happened here especially those people who did not have children after the ziyara of imam ridah alayhi salam they got children those who are not well they came here through the blessings of imam alayhi salam many have been cured if you ask many iranians about the miracles which had happened here they will tell you many stories i was born in iran and but raised in canada so coming back home again was really special but being in mashat and um when you uh when you we were on the bus right so the first thing you see when you get to the city center is the shrine of imam rizal alayhi salam right so that's really special it's almost like uh when you reach karbala the first shrine that you see is has that bosses so it's a similar feeling right so you say your salams from far away right and you have this special feeling that while you're even though you're really tired it's like two three in the morning um you say your salams and then you go to your hotel and then drop your stuff and the first thing we did was um we walked towards the shrine and uh we did our ziyara and we did our fajr prayer there um that was also really special because um being in mashat it's so epic the the the hadam is just so massive um it's nothing you cannot compare it to amir al-ammanin or imam hasayans right um and and you really sense peace as soon as you pass the gates you just feel really calm and you feel peaceful and there was a really nice breeze um and that was really special that and I asked them before when I was in Toronto I asked the imam rizal that I wanted to come and um to invite us you know and again you you just can't believe that you're in mashat you're in the hadam and you were touching the zari you know it's really special because uh you know throughout the year you sense so much you know and you do not deserve to be in any of these shrines you just you know I'm speaking for myself um because you know hadamain was really special and you promise the imams that you won't sin again right um that when you go back you're gonna change and then it's really hard you know um you do sin but and it's really amazing that they invite you again and again and again even though you're caring so much burden and so much sin but they invite you and they invite you and they invite you it's just so much love they just give you so much love even though I personally deserve any of it and that's just um it shows how much care they have for us you know I don't even consider myself a Shia I'm a Shia is you know Salman Farsi you know the Habib all those guys um I'm just a lover of the Ahlulbayt and I hope that I get closer uh to the imams I cannot call myself a Shia you know I don't I'm not good enough so I'm I'm just a follower a lover of the Ahlulbayt and again I pray that we all come back again once more forget about your doubts uh just book your ticket and trust me you you will be invited and the money will come um because that's how Imam Hussein works uh you just have to be invited so ask the Imam for the invitation and he will provide everything I've experienced this twice so um no doubts just come you have to come you have to come no matter what I say it's just it won't make sense till you actually come and to Calwala to Najaf to Iran and experience the whole thing and then you're here with a spiritual journey is amazing um they take care of you really well everything is organized for you and um you'll experience so much and you learned so much I've I've taken away so much the first time on the last out of rain and this time around I've met so many incredible people and every time you come you meet new people um and the experience is just uh too much uh but the important thing is it's not a holiday it is not a holiday this is a religious uh journey you have to come here in order to want to change right if your intention is to get away from your country and and just have fun you can do that um but you really have to want to change you know uh you have to give something Imam Hussein gave you something he invited you right so are you ready to give something up give up you have to give something up right if there's a sin in your life that you've committed throughout your life you have to really look at yourself and work hard and promise the Imam that listen you know you invited me I'm gonna do this for me and for you and for Allah right and um and really promise the Imam that you're going to give this up right um so don't have any doubts