Visiting the Gravesite of abu ‘Abd Allah, al-Husayn ibn Ali, ‘Alayhi al-Salam

“Abu ‘ Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that when you decide to visit the gravesite of al-Husayn (a.s.), go to al-Furat and take a bath near his gravesite; then move toward him in a serene and dignified manner until you enter the shrine from its east side. During entering say, ‘I offer greeting of peace to the descending angels of Allah. I offer greeting of peace to the substituting angels of Allah. I offer greeting of peace to the marking angels of Allah. I offer greeting of peace to the angel of Allah who live in this sacred place.’ When you are in front of the gravesite of Al-Husayn (a.s.), you should say, ‘(I hereby declare, affirm and acknowledge the divine authority of and my) submission to (the commandments of) the Messenger of Allah. (I hereby declare, affirm and acknowledge the divine authority of the trustee of Allah over His messengers and His decisive commandments, the seal of that which were before and the opening of that which is to come and the dominant over all of the affairs. May Allah grant him protection, kindness and blessings.’ Then you should say, £ 0 Allah, I appeal before You to grant salawat (favors and compensation) to ’Amir al- Mu’minin, Ali, Your servant, brother of Your messenger, whom You have chosen through Your knowledge and have made a guide for whomever of Your creatures You wanted and a vanguard for those whom You have sent with Your messages. He is the one provider and facilitator of the system of justice of Your religion according to Your justice, a differentiator in the issuance of Your judgment among Your creatures and the dominant over all such affairs. O Allah, grant him protection, kindness and blessing. O Allah, I appeal before You to grant salawat (favors and compensation to al-Hassan ibn Ali, worthy of his services to Your cause). He is Your servant and the son of the one whom You have chosen through Your knowledge and have appointed a guide for whomever You wanted of Your creatures, a vanguard for those whom You have sent with Your messages. He is the one provider and facilitator of the system of justice of Your religion according to Your justice, a differentiator in the issuance of Your judgment among Your creatures and the dominant over all such affairs. O Allah grant him protection, kindness and blessing.’ Then say salawat al-Salam for al-Husayn and all other ’A’immah, ‘Alayhim al-Salam, just as you said for (Imam) al-Hassan (a.s.). Thereafter go near the gravesite of al-Husayn (a.s.), and say, ‘(I hereby declare, affirm and acknowledge that you are a ‘Alayhi al-Salam and my) submission to (your commandments) O grandson of the Messenger of Allah. (I hereby declare, affirm and acknowledge that you are a ‘Alayhi al-Salam and my) submission to (your commandments) O son of ’Amir al-Mu’minin. I appeal before Allah to grant salawat (favors and compensation to you worthy of Your services to His cause) O abu ‘Abd Allah. I testify that you completed the task Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Glorious, had commanded you to accomplish. You were not afraid of anyone other than Allah, strove hard for His cause, worshipped Him a true worshipping until the time of your martyrdom. I testify that you are the words of piety, the gateway of guidance, the unbreakable safety ring, the authority of Allah over the living and those under the earth. I testify that such qualities existed with you in the past and they are means of victory and triumph in future. I testify that your spirits and your clay (substance of your bodies) are clean, pure and cleansed. The substances of you (’A’immah) bodies were one from the other. It was a favor and great kindness for us from Allah. I designate Allah as my witness and I designate you as my witness that I believe in your (divine authority), I am your follower in my soul, in the rules of my religion, in the consequences of my deeds, in my return and my place of rest. I appeal before Allah, Honorable and Merciful to complete it for me. I testify that you accomplished all that Allah had commanded you to do and in so doing you were not afraid of anyone other than Allah. You strove hard for His cause, worshipped Him until the time of your death. I appeal before Allah to condemn those who murdered you, those who commanded your murderer and those condoned with the plan of your murderers. I testify that the statements of the Holy Prophet condemned those who violated your sanctity and spilled your blood.’ “Thereafter say, ‘O Allah, condemn those who have misrepresented Your bounty, opposed Your institution, turned away from Your command, accused Your messenger and created obstacles in Your path. O Allah, fill their graves with fire as well as their bellies and drive them and their followers to hell with their eyes turned blue. O Allah, condemn them with such condemnation with which the prominent angels, every messenger-prophet and every believing person whose faith is tested for its strength will condemn. O Allah, condemn them in most secrecy and concealment as well as openly in public manner. O Allah, condemn Jawabit (pi. of Jibt, devil) of this nation as well as its Tawaghit (pi. of taghut, transgressors), condemn its Pharaohs, condemn the murderers of ’Amir al-Mu’minin, the murderers of al-Husayn and punish them with such punishment which no one in the world is punished with. O Allah, make us of those who support him, of those whom You use for support and You grant them Your support for the cause of Your religion in this world as well as in the next world.’ “Then sit down near his head and say, I appeal before Allah to grant salawat (favors and compensation to you worthy of Your services to His cause). I testify that you are a servant of Allah, His trustee who has accomplished with wisdom the task of trustworthiness, spoke as truthful person and passed away with certainty. You did not accept blindness in place of guidance and never deviated from truth to falsehood. I testify that you performed salat (prayer), paid zakat, commanded people to do good and forbade them from doing evil deeds, followed the Messenger, recited the book in the true way of recitation and called people to the path of your Lord with wisdom and good advice. I appeal before Allah to grant salawat (favors and compensation to you worthy of Your services to His cause), with safety and protection. I appeal before Allah to reward you as with the reward of a truthful one’s good rewards for his services to his people. I testify that Jihad (striving for the cause of Allah) in your support is the true Jihad. I testify that truth is on your side, it belongs to you, you are of the people of truth, the source of truth and that the legacy of prophet-hood is with you and with the people of your family. I appeal before Allah to grant salawat (favors and compensation to you worthy of Your services to His cause), with peace and protection. I testify that you are Allah’s truthful servant and His authority over his creatures. I testify that your call is truthful call and every caller appointed beside you is false and invalid. I testify that Allah is the clear truth.’ “Thereafter you should go toward his feet and pray for yourself as you may choose. ‘Then you should go toward the head of Ali ibn al-Husayn and say, ‘I appeal before Allah to grant you His protection and peace and the greeting of peace of His prominent angels and prophets who were sent as messengers. You are my master and the son of my master. I appeal before Allah to bless you with His kindness and blessings. I appeal before Allah to grant compensation and reward to you, your family and the offspring of your noble and chosen ancestors from whom Allah has decided to remove all rijs (all filthy matters) and purify in a through purification.’ “Thereafter you should go to the gravesites of the martyrs and offer them your greetings of peace and say, I appeal before Allah to grant you peace and protection, O believers in the Lord, you have proceeded and we follow you. We are your followers and supporters. I testify that you are supporters of Allah, the masters of the martyrs in this world and in the next life. You are supporters of Allah as Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Glorious, has said, “There were many prophets on whose side people believing in the Lord were fighting. They did not show any lack of responsibility even though they were hurt for the cause of Allah, nor showed any weakness or compromise with the enemy.” (3:146) You indeed did not show any weakness or compromise with the enemy, until you went before Allah on the path of the truth, supporting the perfect words of Allah. I appeal before Allah to grant favors and compensation to your spirits and bodies worthy of your services to His cause, with peace and protection. There is good news for you through the promise of Allah, which does not change, because He does not change His promises. Allah will accomplish His granting what He has promised to you, the masters of the martyrs, in this world and in the next life. You are the first al-Muhajirun (immigrants (to Allah)) and al- Ansar (the helpers). I testify that you did Jihad (strove hard) for the cause of Allah and you were murdered while protecting the institution of the Messenger of Allah and the son (the child) of the Messenger of Allah, I appeal before Allah to grant salawat (favors and compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause) with peace and protection. All praise belongs to Allah who made His promise with you to come true and showed you what you loved.’ “Then return to the gravesite and say, ‘I have come to you, O beloved of the Messenger of Allah, the son (child) of the Messenger of Allah. I am aware of your status and I acknowledge your rights. I am aware of your merits and the straying of those who opposed you. I have knowledge of the guidance you follow. I pray to Allah to keep my soul and the souls of my parents in service for your cause. O Allah, I appeal before You to grant salawat (favors and compensation to you worthy of Your services to His cause) just as You have granted favors and compensation worthy of his services to Your cause, and as Your messenger and ’Amir al-Mu’minin have appealed before You to grant compensation to him worthy of his services to Your cause. Grant him a continuous salat, connected, substituted one, following the other without break in time or point of time at this time and when we are here or not here. (I hereby declare, affirm and acknowledge that you are a ‘Alayhi al-Salam and my) submission to (your commandments) and appeal before Allah to grant you protection, kindness and blessings’. “When you decide to say farewell to him say, ’(I hereby declare, affirm and acknowledge that you are a ‘Alayhi al-Salam and my) submission to (your commandments) and appeal before Allah to grant you protection and kindness and blessings. I leave you in the protection of Allah and offer you my greeting of peace. We believe in Allah, the Messenger of Allah and in what you have brought and guided to. We have followed the messenger, so list us among the witnesses. O Allah, do not make this the last chance for me to visit him and his seeing us. O Allah, I appeal before You to make us benefit from our love for him. O Allah, raise him to the praiseworthy position whereby You support through him Your religion, eliminate Your enemies, destroy those who commence a war against the family of Muhammad (a.s.); You have promised so and You do not change Your promise. (I hereby declare, affirm and acknowledge that you are a ‘Alayhi al-Salam and my) submission to (your commandments and I appeal before Allah to grant you protection, kindness and blessings. I testify that you are noble martyrs who strove hard for the cause of Allah and were murdered while protecting the institution of the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant salawat (favors and compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause) with protection and safety a great deal.’”