To Najaf, Samarra, and beyond!!! #Trip2015

Day Three and Four in heaven! 

Four days into Najaf, and I'm already trippin' here and there and everywhere! On the third day of the #Trip2015 and our second day in Najaf, matlab yesterday, we were told to pack up our stuff for a longggg road trip to Samarra and Kazmain! We left our hotel at 4 AM in the morning and it literally took us two whole hours to reach the bus depot (which normally takes not more than 15 minutes but due to the crowd gathered for fajar prayers, it took a lot of smashin' and gashin' to reach the desired spot). That one mile walk was indeed hard. But not as hard as the 6AM-2PM drive from Najaf to Samarra. Try sitting upright for straight EIGHT hours without breakfast, or lunch, or even bathroom breaks!! Yeah, I know. BUT THAT'S NOT EVEN THE SCARY PART.

The borders of Samarra were shut closed and all the zairs had to walk around SIX MILES in to reach Samarra and the Roza of the 10th Imam, Imam Ali Naqqi aleyhsalam; Roza of 11th Imam, Imam Hasan Askari aleyhsalam; Roza of Sister of the 11th Imam, Bibi Hakeema khaatun salamulahalyeh; Roza of the 12th Imam's mother; Bibi Narjis Khatton salamulahaleyh; and the place called "Sardaab-e-imam-e-zamana" which is the place where the 12th imam, Hazrat Imam Mahdi (Akhiruzzamah) aleyhsalam stayed during his ghaibat in this world.

The walk to from the borders of samarra to the roza was pleasant. We came across plenty of amazing sight during the 6-mile walk.

 Like during the vvvvv long walk, I was complaining to my dad that my feet were giving up on me. Just when I was done complaining, I saw a very old man, walking with a walking chair with full enthusiasm. I was so ashamed and immediately regretted what I said and prayed that he must be so tired too. The next thing i know is that an army van stopped and they made him sit inside so that he wouldnt have to walk another 4 more mile to reach the roza. That was truly a blessing!

During the walk, the whole place was heavily guarded by mujahideens, or commonly known as, Iraqi Army. Those people are amazing cause they literally are putting their lives at risk happily to save samarra from being conquered and helping and saving the zairs! These Mujahideens are living proof of their devotion towards their religion.

             

             

Samarra was supposed to be Heaven on earth, but when we reached the actual place, my heart sunk instantly. In the recent years after the War on Iraq, Isis took over half the Iraq and tried to capture Samarra, but only succeeded in destroying the beautiful historic place. The place looked extremely fragile and was epitome of innocence, and yet so peaceful.

 I managed to take some pictures and snapchatted them but the wifi was weak and the snaps and videos were deleted. I did manage to save some pictures of the wall graffiti of samaraa that showed the resilient people of samarra!

 

During the walk back to the border of samarra, we saw plenty of war torn places and war tankers , but also some really good stuff.

                   

                     GOALSSSSS

 

Need this shirt ASAP

                                     

 

On the way back, I was also approached by some mujahideens that wanted me to take their picture! These people literally deserve all the appreciation in this world. Much love and respect for them.

On the way back , I was almost dead cause we were still food deprived and breakfast-less and lunch-less. And so, Help was on its way :') And kehtay haina, bhook mae insaan ko har cheez achi lagti hai. Even lentils, mannn! DAAL FRIKING CHAWALL OMNOMNOMNOM!

After reaching the bus depot, and another 3 hour road trip, we reached Kaazmain and about 2 miles in, we had to walk on foot. My feet gave me the red signals udhar. However, all the walking was worth it. Kaazmain was as beautiful as ever. Kazmain is the Homeplace and the place of Roza of the 7th Imam, Imam Moosa Kazim aleyh salam; and the 9th Imam, Imam Mohammad Taqqi aleyh salam. With the extremely tight security, I managed to take only one picture before i submitted my phone and mobile into Amaanaat (lockers).

Today, We were told we had to leave for Kufa and Masjid-e-Sehla but due to some reasons, the plan was cancelled. So my family decided to go to waadiyusalam, the oldest graveyard of Najaf, where most of the prophets are buried. In the graveyard, We went to the roza of Prophet Hood aleyhsalam and Prophett Sualeh aleyhsalam and the qayam gah or the place where the 6th Imam, Imam Jafar Sadiq aleyhsalam and the 12th Imam Imam Mahdi (Akhiruzzamah) aleyhsalam used to pray during their Najaf visits. And also, the well that Imam himself dug up and after all this time, is still so good!

the place where imam prayed

the well that imam dug up.

       

After the Waadiyussalam trip, we were all exhausted and made our way back to the hotel. We're leaving for Karbala tomorrow InshaAllah and I'm so excited for it already! Till we finally reach karbala for the arbaeen, this is me, signing off!

Digitally Yours'
Wurduh Jaffri.
Najaf, 29th November