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Monday 14 December 2015

From Qom, To Mashhad, to the agony in Dubai! #Trip2015

HUBBA HUBBA HDFHCDWJKF ITS FREEZING HERE IN IRAN!

Our days in Iran just kept getting better as we started the day of 8th december by going on a hardly 30 minute road trip to Masjid-e-Jamkaran. We were told that we would leave at sharp 9 AM, and as always, the kafla leader's word were just blekh. We left our hotel at around 10:30 AM and it wasnt as cold as it was a day back (It snowed, mann).



 Masjid-e-Jamkaran, in Qom, is located in probably the most majestic landscape in all of iran cause SNOWY MOUNTAINSSS OMGGG! This is probably the reason that when we got off the bus at Jamkaran, We nearly froze to death. Them winds kept blowing all over us STRAIGHT from the snowy mountain.



However, snow was not the only thing I noticed outside Masjid-e-Jamkaran. The views from all the directions were so overwhelming; I think I was trippin' a little. 



There was no snow outside the Masjid. But it was indeed wet from the melted snow. But as soon as we entered the premises of the Masjid, WE WERE ECSTATIC! There was snow EVERYWHERE! AND PEOPLE WERE SLIPPING EVERYWHERE!!!! The sight was funny, yet alarming, cause the one who laughs at the fallen are always the ones who falls next :p Being very very cautious, we moved on further inside to take refuge at a warm place.
 


Masjid-e-Jamkaran is so beautiful from outside, i think my insides started to roll from a serious inferiority complex. I mean, HOW CAN A PLACE BE SO BEAUTIFUL!???



Because of the snow in the HUGE yard, and snow and water taking over the whole yard, the management there made a path for a people to walk with carpets. Of course, the carpet was all wet because of the water and snow, but the volunteers there kept draining the carpet with wipers. Yes, the wet carpet doesn't sound very appealing, but when you think of people slipping on the wet marble, wet carpet sound more of a favourable bet. :p



Said it before, and I'll say it again; THIS PLACE IS SO BEAUTIFUL FROM OUTSIDE OMGGG!



But because The masjid was so supah amazing and supah cold from outside, It was as pretty and WARM from the inside. AND IT WASNT OVERCROWDED!!! SCOOOOREEE!!!!! YAAS NAMAZ IN PEACEEEE WITHOUT ANY DHAKKAY AND MUKKAYY!!



But because Me being ME is always cold, despite the huge heaters everywhere, I chose a spot directly where the warmth of the sun crept in. Roshan-daan at its best.



After we were done praying Zuhr, It was time to leave and so, we had to leave the warmth of the inside of the Masjid and proceed again in the freezing cold snowy and wet outside. On the way out, I saw multiple people falling on the ice :p When people try to help other people who are falling, the tend to fall themselves and the chain continues. I had to push my laugh back when the uncle from the karwaan fell and his wife fell trying to save him. But felt really really bad cause he was very old and she was just trying to help. And I almost slipped. That was probably a warning sign for me to have empathy for others.

Because I was half paralyzed from the cold, I saw a dude giving out Kahwas and so, I ran towards it because HOW CAN YOU NOT RUN TOWARDS SOMETHING THATS WAS PROBABLY GOING TO SAVE YOUR LIFE. AND HANDS. Most importantly Hands!



Immediately after the tea, we left Jamkaran and hoped to see the beautiful place again (and hopefully in a warm weather). We prayed Maghrib and Isha In Bibi Masooma-e-Qom eleyhsalam's shrine and attended a Pakistani Majlis in one of the dorms of the Shrine. The Majlis was in pure Punjabi and I don't know Punjabi like my mother does. After the Majlis, We had to leave because it was just getting colder by the passing minute. And We had to leave Qom for Mashhad at around 11 AM!



But because the time we were given by the Kafla leader was never th actual time, and we were punctual as hell, we had to wait till around 2 PM to get a red signal to leave the hotel. And even after we left the hotel, we had to wait outside the hotel for another hour because the pickup bus that was supposed to take us to the bus depot wasn't on time. When we were waiting outside in the cold, I was approached by a very sweet and very pretty Pakistani lady who was with her very cute daughter who was about my age. They both were quite tensed and needed a seat to get to Mashhad early as the lady's daughter had a flight after two days. Because I knew we always had some vacant seats in our bus, i was like Yes why not sure. When she asked the men of our Kafla, being the ignorant selfish people that they were, some of them straight out said no. She was now more tensed. So I straight out approached the Kafla leader and told him that they need our help and they will go with us no matter what. And so, they came with us,. It was a pleasant journey with them honestly.

Before leaving, I took a trip with a little guy from my kafla and my dad to a garden that was frozen and nonetheless, looked so serine and beautiful. There i saw the first cat in my whole Iran trip. The cat was pure Persian (duh, Iran is Persia). And it was so fat and fabulous. When I saw it and moved just my hand to my camera, the cat in pure horror ran away. That was when i realized, Cats are repulsed by me. Okay. Set hay. No problem. Khair in the garden, I saw pomegranate trees and Watermelon shoots with snow around it.


When our Pickup came, instead of taking us to the bus depot, it took us to the homeplace of one of the descendant of the 4th Imam, Imam ZainulAbideen eleyhsalam; Imam zaada Jamal-udddin eleyhsalam. And we had to wait outside the Aastana for about an hour till the bus came. It was cold there. But not as cold as mashhad was going to be.



Taj Mahal whaaat? Lol jk but this was too beautiful to be left unappreciated. Iran's heritage is so well preserved, it make me cry.



Till the bus that was supposed to take us from Qom to mashhad was on its way to pick us up from the road we were stranded on, i noticed how i was very very very cold and other people werent. Then I noticed my shoes and was like dayyum this is why im so cold! But them ketos are comfortable af and maybe thats why i wore them WAYYY TOO MUCH. Notice the halat pls.



We took of from Qom around 5 and on the way to Mashhad, stopped at 8 PM at certain shrines.



Amongst the shrines, thst were located under one roof, we first saw the shrine of Shah Abdul Azeem eleysalam, who is the desendant of the 2nd Imam, Imam Hassan Mujtaba eleyhsalam. And was also the one of the Ashaab of four Imams; Imam Ali Raza eleyhsalam, Imam Moosa Kazim eleyhsalam, Imam Mohammad Taqqi eleyhsalam and Imam Ali Naqqi eleyhsalam.



Then we saw the shrine of Hazrat Hamza eleysalam who is also the descendant of 7th Imam, Imam Moosa Kazim eleysalam



And then we saw the shrine of Hazrat Tahir eleyhsalam, who is also the descendant of the 4th Imam, Imam Zainulabideen eleyhsalam. The number of direct descendants of all the Imams in Iran and Iraq is pretty high since most of the families of all the Imam's resided in these regions.There were plenty of descendants residing in Saudi Arabia too but the aal-e-Saud, a.k.a wahabi sector of saudi arab made sure these places were never found and totally destroyed them from the core. And the Irani and Iraqi's made sure none of these great blood lines were forgotten. This is probably why here in Iran and Iraq, the blood lines of pure SYEDS are respected at utmost, (syeds are a caste of shias that are direct descendants of Hazrat Ali eleyhsalam and Hazrat Syeda Fatima eleysalam; The daughter of the last messenger of God, Hazrat Mohammad Mustafa  . You cant be a Syed. Either you're Born a Syed, or you're just not. And Alhamdulilah i feel previledged to be born in succh a beautiful and pure family background :3



After we were done with prayers we got out to proceed towards our bus and froze half way through and were hungryyyyy. Luckily, the hotel that was inside the shrine were giving out free dinners and hence we stuffed ourselves up. Then again, a mighty long road trip was waiting for us. When i got back to the bus, instead of sitting on the seat, i sat on the floor because:
1. Backache
2. Too damn sleepy and no actual position to sleep
3. I needed some space.

And so, i sat the entire time till Fajr on the floor of the moving bus and because i was on the floor, my body froze and i got a very scary fever. At around 5 Am, my dad gave me a new seat to sit in and my mom gave me more warm clothes to get some heat and tab jakay i got some sleep and i felt much better. I woke up the next morning when our bus stopped at Nishapur. Nishapur is a little heaven on Earth. But because we were sleeping throughout the way, waking up in the extreme cold and so early was a bit too much. But i had to pee sososososoooo bad (RETURN OF THE BLADDER GUISE, THE BLADDER IS BACKKKKK) tabhi i had to improvise on my sleep and get up my butt and go up the hill to reach the centre point of Nishapur. AND I REGRET NOTHING! Ooper se im glad i did!
We walked all the way in the freezing cold with our new friends (The family we met earlier) and joked around how this one specific tree we saw look exactly like that one cursed tree from Harry Potter series



All up the way we had a good time and when we reached the actual place, we were pretty relieved and kinda sorta scared cause *wuzu bhe tou karna haiii is thand mae OMGGGGG*



NishaPur is the place where the 8th Imam, Imam Ali Raza eleyhsalam came to and the mountain he stood on turned very sof t and hence his footprints got embosed in the ground. That part of the ground was later extracted from the ground by the locals and preserved for future generations to see.



NishaPur is filled with Huge beautiful snow covered Pine trees and The pine cones in them Trees looks vvvvv pretty from down below.



There was also a water spring near the Qadam gah of Imam Ali Raza eleyhsalam. It is said that Imam wanted to pray namaz and there was no water around him to do wuzu and hense when Imam eleyhsalam prayed to Allah and swayed his hand across the mountain, a spring was formed and has been active till this day! And let me tell you, the water from this chashma is so meetha, its insaneeeee!



After loading myself with the water, i went out to seek my bus. And captured very very cute stuff on the way.



After an hour drive from Nishapur, we finally reached Mashhad and boy was it amazing OR WHAT!!!



All along the way we saw such beautiful monuments. Iran has really developed a lot in the past decade. Hats off to my other homeland (my roots are from Iran).



During the way towards our hotel, we came across the procession that was going on on the death anniversary of the 2nd Imam, Hazrat Imam Hassan Mujtaba eleyhsalam.



Since we were all tired, and esp. Mee, I took a day off to rest them bones and went to the Roza of Imam Ali Raza eleyhsalam the next day! And boy oh boy, was it different or what!

The inside

the main door


one of the entrance 


the burial place



Our days ended with this irani dish of chillu kabab and frozen salad. THIS IS THE ONLY THING I COULD EAT IN IRAN TBH AND I MISS IT SO MUCH!



Days passed by and we made sure we had a brilliant time there and I will truly miss each and every memory I made on this trip. And now that this #Trip2015 is almost over, I regret that I spent a lot of time resting and getting lazy. But the truth is, being a zair comes with a lot of hardship and all them zairs' truly deserve all the rest in this world.

Today, it's 14 December and as im typing voraciously on my laptop on Dubai airport, I just remembered Im going to Karachi alone (Mom and Dad and sis staying in dubai with other sis) and back in karachi, we are out of water. Lel. Ghar jakay khareedna parega paani. OH OH AND WHAT WILL I DO IN THIS 7 HOUR STAY AT TERMINAL 2??? YAAR MAE TOU BEHOSH HORAI HUN BOREDOM SE! chalo khair hai. I'll figure something out.

Till I find something to eat here and something other than the free wifi to occuppy myself, this is me, signing off.

Digitally Yours'
Wurduh Jaffri.
Dubai, 14 Decemeber 2015.

Tuesday 8 December 2015

Farewell Karbala, Hello Iran! #Trip2015


I cant really think of a fancy way to start this blog post, except, stating the major fact about this arbaeen in karbala. Too. Many. People.
About 30 million people visited Karbala this arbaeen (chehlum of Imam Hussain eleyhsalam and his family and tribe). Too many people obviously means difficulties in finding good spots to pray namaz, very very hard to do actual ziaraats of all the maqaams and the shrine and vvvvvvv hard to actually breath. And yet. Everything was so amazing and perfect and I feel super duper blessed.




With the decrease in temperature and increase in our anxieties to actually touch the zari-e-Imam Hussain eleyhsalam, we totally lost track of time. What started from the third day in Karbala a.k.a heaven on earth (last blog update), quickly turned to fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh day in Karbala.

Our hotel wass nice. Cozy. Comfy. But not a 5star hotel (we paid for one and we got none. yolo)






the crazy thing about Noor-ul-Ameer hotel is that it was owned by this man called Abu Haider, who was very very very sweet.. I think he was. I mean, I never actually understood his arabi. I hope he was saying good things to us all those times. ._.




I mean look at him.

One day before arbaeen, we tried very hard to get inside the Shrine of Imam Hussain eleyhsalam and failed miserably, because TOO MANY PEOPLE OMGGGGGGGEEEEZZZ! And so, we went to the Shrine of Hazrat Abbas eleyhsalam, who was the brother of Imam Hussain eleyhsalam. His shrine is also under construction but due to the underground level, we were able to do ziarat again.


When we got back to our hotel, we were told by our cousins back in Pakistan that a night before arbaeen, a couple of Pakistani Nohakhuaans will assemble near Khaimahgah and will have a full night azadari session. I was thrilled when I heard about it because during all my journey I just came across only ONE Pakistani Nohakhuaan group who were passing by our hotel whilst reciting nohas, (and who also were in our travel group when I came to Karbala back in 2012.They were extremely lovely people and had magical voices.) Khair at night around 11 or 12 I was going all shades of crazy and wanted to go but erryone at our hotel room were fast asleep. But eventually I ended up waking my mom up and we went to khaimagah of the martyrs of Karbala. We didn't find any Nohakhuaans there, However, we did end up finding a HUGE Pakistani kafla right outside khaimahgah and we joined them.


They were all from Dubai and Europe and were vvvv organized. We stayed there for a while but had to leave since we had to wake up early the next day. On our way home, Ammi and I decided to do a little sightseeing ourselves. We went to Tila-e-Zainabya, which was the spot or a short stubby mountain where Hazrat Zainab eleyhsalam, the sister of Imam Hussain eleysalam saw everyone of her family and tribe getting slaughtered in the battle of Karbala.


After wards, we went straight ahead to our hotel. Luckily our hotel was located at a place where most of the historical sites were present. And one of the gates of Imam Hussain eleysalam's Shrine which was called Sidratul muntaha lead STRAIGHT to our hotel and all the sites.


And so, we passed by Maqam-e-Ali Asghar eleyhsalam, The place where the infant son of Hazrat Imam Hussain aleyhsalam was shot an arrow straight into the infant's neck, which also pierced through the toddler and straight into Hazrat Imam Hussain eleysalam's arm. The Place is very tiny and surrounded by religious souvenir shops and a cot (jhoola) is installed there to remember the little martyr and the pain and suffering of a father that saw his infant die in his own arms, and saw almost EVERY MEN of his tribe getting martyred.


After the ziarat, we went straight back to our hotel as my feet were killing me (fat people problems) and so, the day ended with me in my comfy comfy hotel's bed. On the day of Arbaeen, we waited till zuhar prayers so we won't have to see a whole lot of people outside on the street for prayers and around 12:30, we were off to khaimagah since we heard there'll be a major Majlis at a Pakistani muakkab (big big tents). When we left the hotel, we were total eight people. But because it was the day of arbaeen, EVERYONE FROM EVERY COUNTRY WAS OUT ON THE STREET IN GROUPS IN A HUGEEEE NEVER ENDING LINE. On the day of arbaeen, Everyone is supposed to go inside the shrine of Imam Hussain eleysalam and Hazrat Abbass eleysalam to pay their respects for the fallen of Battle of Karbala. When we saw the huge crowd, we instantly knew we werent going to find the Pakistani muakkab, and so, after circling the entire place, we found Nada, NOTHING. Tired and disappointed we headed back to our hotel to pray and luckily, we found the Group of Pakistani zairs that instantly caught our eye.


Oh and I also found this Pakistani beauty!


We stayed with the paki gang for some time and left becasue we were hungry and wayyyyyy too tired. On our way back, we saw a line, and lines only mean something totally mysterious is waiting and so, we joined the very very short line. Turns out, on the day of arbaeen, the people of karbala gathers and make a hugeeeee Shwarma for lunch for the bhookay zaaireens (like us).


These people were so organized and clean, every cook wore a cap, a vest, a ,mask, and gloves to avoid any sort of contamination. In that line, we first received  a 7up, then a person would take out a bun from a packet and pass it to the other. Then the other person would shouffle the cooked chicken in a pan and stuff it in the bun. Then the other person would wrap it instantly with a butter paper, and give it to you with a smile on his face that'll melt you. The next person would give you a ketchup sachet (SCOREEEE). Because we all got like a foot long sandwiches now, we went to the hotel ASAP and gobbled it all up, and eventually prayed and slept and woke up the next day.

We tried our luck the next day at the shrine of Imam Hussain eleyhsalam and still no luck found our way (couldn't make it inside because of the crowd). This was the day when our group leader was to take us detailed sight seeing with the whole 90-people ka kafla. And we saw Maqam-e-Ali Akbar eleyhsalam, where the young son of Imam Hussain eleyhsalam was martyred.


Then we went to the Masjid where the 12th and the current Imam, Imam Mehdi (Akhiruzzamah) eleyhsalam, prayed during his ghaibat.


And we also saw the garden that 6th Imam, Imam Jaffer Sadiq eleysalam planted himself in karbala. That garden used to be a big lush garden back in the days. But because in all them years, zaairs grazed the garden (literally took leaves with them), The Iraqi government preserved a small area of it with a zari so the people could see it.


Lines here, lines there, lines everywhere. And that one scout who whips you with the fluffy dagger of annoyance (feathers wala duster) when you take too long to see the place.

After that I was toooooooo tired because of the weird detour of our kafla and hence I decided to ditch everyone and go back to the hotel. I didn't realize it was our last day in Karbala or I would have gone to the Roza again to try my luck because that following night, my sister went there and after waiting and getting smushed in a line for 3 hours, she finally made it inside! And even my mom was with her and she couldn't make it. And so we swore to visit karbala again.

The following morning (totally unaware that we were leaving the same day, on 5th december, we were woken up by the kafla leader telling us that we were leaving Karbala in an hour to Kufa and Masjid-e-Sehla. Confused and annoyed, we hurried ourselves up and started packing. They told us we would be leaving right after 12 and zuhr prayers. We all got packed and tayyar and stuff.... and everything slowed down. Then the lunch arrived and daal chawals were amazeballs.



Around 4 PM, The kafla leader came back with the rest of the kafla that was in a separate bungalow, and we all left the hotel and bid Abu Haider Farewell.




On the way towards the bus depot, we glanced at both the shrine one last time and promised ourselves that this will definitely NOT be the LAST TIME we ever see such beauty.





We also got to see our hotel from the previous 2012 trip again and boy, was it nostalgic or whattt!



After getting into the bus and taking forever, we left Karbala at about 7 PM. At night, heading straight to Masjid-e-Sehla. Around 9 PM ish, we reached Masjid-e-Sehla, where many of the prophets and Imams used to pray and live in the city of Kufa. After praying lot and lots of namaz, we were on our way to Masjid-e-Kufa, The residence of Hazrat Ali eleyhsalam, and the shrine of Hazrat Meesum-e-Tammar eleyhsalam.
 (One of the sahabi of Hazrat ali eleyhsalam).

Unfortunately when we reached there (all these places are in foot ranges so we walked) around 11 ish, It was all closed down because it was too late..




Outside the residence of Hazrat Ali eleysalam.



Outside Masjid-e-Kufa, which is probably the most important and religiously historical masjid in our history.



After getting off early (because everything was closed off), we went back to the bus depot to see that our bus driver took the whole bus with him because he decided to have dinner whilst we all were hungry as hell. But as usual, our karwan don't care about our hunger while we are on road trips. Soon (like after an hour) we boarded on the bus again after waiting in the cold, dark night, and started the longggggg journey from Kufa to Mehran border (Iran's entrance for the by-road travellers). Around 5:30 Am, in the vvvv cold night, the bus left us witha shit load of luggage on the road side and we were, again, like WHA???? We had to walk around 3-4 miles into the border with so much luggage that i think that my hands shoulders died a little from the weight of this laptop and my stuff. Because we were a day early, our bus didnt come and so we had to walk from where the bus left us to the immigration and visa clearance from 5:30 AM to 7AM and we had to wait ON THE ROAD, AGAIN, with our luggage, in the freezing cold, from 7AM to 1 PM so we could find a new bus. Yes, I think now it's safe to say that we chose probably the most unorganized noob kaafla on the face of this planet.  
Now on the Mehran border, when we boarded a bus, things changed, atleast for me. Things changes, as in, the tempertature dropped to loww 2 degrees and at times minus four degrees. It snowed all the way from Mehran to Qum and we saw the most amazing views of the mountains along the way. The journey from mehran to Qum was 746 KM which took us almost 15 hours.






All along the way, we were SO SO SO HUNGRY BECAUSE NO LAST NIGHTS DINNER, NO BREAKFAST, NO LUNCH. We stopped on the way at a hotel, everyone got out. And the kafla leader decided it was too expensive and so we were on road again, hungry.

Then at around 9 PM, we stopped again at a hotel and the kafla leader didnt pay for anyones food and everyone had to buy their own food. What a waste of Money, man... BUT! WHEN WE MADE IT IN QUM AT 5 AM THE FOLLOWING NIGHT, EVERYTHING WAS TOTS WORTH IT!!! Our Hotel is so amazing here. The windows open up straight to the Roza of Bibi Fatima Kubra eleyhsalam, also known as Bibi Masooma-e-Qum, who was the youngest sister of the 8th Imam, Imam Ali Raza eleysalam, and daughter of the 7th Imam, Imam Moosa Kazim eleysalam.

We took our time to rest up and play with snow outside our hotel, and Walked to the shrine in the vvvv chilly weather to pray zuhr and asar prayers. And stayed there for Maghribeen.




The outside view



The inside view


The door to her grave



 the burial place

 

The mesmerizing chandelier inside




The entrance and exit


After that, I think I was the only one who was a little paralyzed from all the snow on our way back to the hotel. Till we all visit Masjid-e-Jamkaraan tomorrow early in the morning inshaAllah and try to survive the snow and cold, this is me, getting cozy in this heater and signing off!

Digitally Frozen,
Wurduh Jaffri.
Qum, Iran, 7th December.