Shia Strength: Muslim Unite Sunni and Shia Fw: GREAT IMPRESSIONS

Dear All,

Three years ago in Muharram, I went to Karbala/Najaf for Ziyarat, with my family. It was just before Muharram. We stayed in Karbala until Muhrram began.

I wrote a series of articles after our return to the United States.

This year's Chehlum is round the corner. I have decided to republish that series of articles in the next few days.

Many things that I had noted in this article may have changed in Karbala and Najaf in the intervening three years.

One thing that I know surely, is the fact that the airport in Najaf is fully operational now, which it was not in January 2009.

Read on.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Syed-Mohsin Naquvi

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GREAT IMPRESSIONS

Syed-Mohsin Naquvi January 2009

Nearly seventy years ago my parents, the late Syed Zaheer Hasan Naqvi and Mohsena Begum Naqvi (May Allah rest their souls in peace and in the nearness of the Holy Souls) were married. The marriage had taken place at the residence of my Nana, the late Syed Zafar Abbas Naqvi of Sultanpur, U.P. The bride left her parents home in Sultanpur and moved to her in-laws' family home in Mustafabad U.P.

The greatest wish of Mohsena Begum's mother-in-law was to see her grand children, the children of her second son, Syed Zaheer Hasan. Five years passed and there were no children of that marriage. The old lady, who was named Imam Bandi (the maid of the Imam) prayed and supplicated all those years wishing and hoping. Finally she decided to do a Mannat and go to Karbala.

In those days (the early 1940s) such overseas travel was not easy. People had to travel by sea and carry their beddings as well as dry food including flour, lentils and spices with them. My grandfather, the late Syed Diyanat Husain, arranged for my grandmother to undertake that journey.

My grandmother had travelled with a group. They arrived in Karbala. She did all the prayers and supplications wishing for a grandchild. In those days the shrine at Karbala was in the middle of an open space. The houses and shops that we see today surrounding the twin shrines of Imam Husayn and that of Hazrat Abbas were not there.

On the last day of her trip to Karbala, as she and other members of the group were walking out of the shrine, my grandmother noticed something shining in the dust in the open courtyard of the shrine of Imam Husayn. She stopped and pried the shining object with her finger. It was an egg-shaped red stone of the size of a large brown bean. She presented her find to the leader of the group to find out if it had belonged to someone. When everyone agreed that it had not belonged to anyone, my grandmother asked the group if she could keep it. Finally she brought the stone with her back to Mustafabad.

In the sixth year of my parent's marriage I was born in Lucknow. That red stone my grandmother had found in the courtyard of Imam Husayn's shrine was given to the family jewelers. It was pierced in the middle and made into a talisman with a wand of black thread. When I was born, I wore that talisman until my second brother (Syed Zameer Akhtar) was born. He wore it until our third brother (Syed Tanwir Naqvi) was born. Then the ritual was repeated with three sisters who followed. I therefore feel that my first visit to Karbala in Decemebr-2008/January-2009 was the completion of a journey that had begun with my late grandmother travelling to Karbala by sea seventy years ago. I came into this world as a gift to my grandparents and parents by way of Allah's Mercy and blessings of Imam Husayn.

What can a humble sinful man do to return Allah's Mercy and the blessings of the Holy souls? Except be in awe and express gratefulness by way of a visit to the shrines, that is exactly what I had done.

The common wisdom among the devotees of Imam Husayn is that you cannot complete a journey to his shrine unless he wishes you to come. I suppose he wished for me to come at this time and I went to visit the shrines.

It was a unique experience which is difficult to describe in words but I will try to do that in the next few days.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Syed-Mohsin Naquvi

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