Updated 8 September 2008
The Experience of a Lifetime
By: Mohamed Ashroff Jalill, Sri Lanka
“First of all I would like to thank Almighty Allah (SWT), our Holy Prophet Muhammad (S), the Ahlul Bayt (AS) and especially Imam Reza (AS) for calling me and making way to give me an opportunity to participate in such a camp. This camp was a life changing experience for me, mainly due to the spiritual closeness I gained from this trip. This was the first time I participated in a camp of this nature and I honestly did not know what to expect from it. After the first few days of getting to know each other, the experience began, since entering the City of Qom itself brings spiritual contentment to oneself.
Qum is the base for the first part of the Courses
The first day that we went to the Zari of Bibi Masumeh for Fajr prayers was the first time that I experienced this wonderful feeling of spirituality, the feeling of being in a holy place among holy personalities. The emotions that I experienced doing the ziyarath was unexplainable, the connection I had with Bibi Masumeh on the first day itself was amazing, it made me feel that Bibi Masumeh was listening to our prayers. The feeling was so strong I did not want to leave the place, but I knew that for the next few days I will be one of the privileged ones who will be visiting this holy place daily.
Thereafter, when we got to know each other better, and after listening to each one’s experiences, we formed one big family. This togetherness made us feel that Iran was our second home. The outstanding feature of this trip was the lectures given by all the Sheiks, especially Sheik Nadir Jaffer. These lectures actually opened our eyes and enabled us to look at Shiaism from a perfectly different angle. It gave us points that we had never thought of before, and these lectures definitely made me reflect and love my religion and sect, more. From these lectures there were lots of questions that kept arising in my head, but Alhamdulillah, all my questions and doubts were cleared after the question and answer sessions that was always held after every lecture. We were all well prepared for this trip, thanks to the advice given to us on how to prepare our selves for a trip like this. Making use of the advice given to the maximum, we were able to absorb the main useful points to the best of our ability so that we could implement what we learnt and also share it with our family and loved ones back home.
The Madinah and Bab Courses allow participants to network and appreciate Shias of different cultures and locations
Daily, my knowledge grew and I learnt a lot of new aspects of my religion through the special lectures and also the friendly discussions we had during the sessions and after. Another important phase of this trip was the visits we made to different cities and especially holy places and the learned scholars we had the opportunity of meeting. These trips were filled with fun but also taught us so many important things which we could take back from our visits.
Discussions are organised with leading scholars. In this picture Dr Shomali holds an interactive discussion with the participants
Jamkaraan was a totally different experience, just the thought that we were in the precincts of our 12th Imam was an experience by itself. Every Tuesday, we had the wonderful opportunity of reciting Dua Tawassul amidst an august gathering and listening to this recitation by so many was simply breathtaking. After the recital, all of us were silent, deep in our thoughts and thanking Allah (SWT) over and over again for having afforded all of us this wonderful opportunity of being in the presence of our Living Imam (Alhamdulillah).
After two long weeks in Qom, like all good things should come to an end, our stay in Qom too had to come to an end. This was a sad day for us because we knew that we had to leave our Mother Bibi Masumeh, but we comforted ourselves with the thought that we were leaving Qom to visit Mashad where the Zari of our 8th Imam Reza (AS) was and who was also the beloved brother of Bibi Masumeh.
When arriving in Mashad, it gave us a feeling of spiritual enlightenment since we were in the presence of Imam Reza (AS). We felt honoured to think that it was Imam Reza (AS) who had invited us to visit this holy city and just this thought alone gave us a lot of joy. At first, I had actually decided to return home after my trip to Qom, since I was unable to change my College timetable back home. But I really feel blessed, since I am confident that it was Imam Reza (AS) who encouraged me to stay on and visit Mashad and experience this special feeling of spiritual contentment, which is unexplainable.
Group discussions in Mashhad
The spiritual motivation gained to better ourselves will always remain with us for a very long time. I cannot thank Allah (SWT) enough for having granted me this wonderful opportunity of participating in a religious camp of this nature, since being in a Sunni dominated country, an opportunity of this nature is definitely a gift of Allah (SWT). I only hope and pray that I will be able to attend many more camps of this nature, so that with the knowledge gained, I will be able to enlighten others on the different aspects of the wonderful teachings of the Ahlul Bayt (AS).
On the whole, the knowledge and spirituality gained by us is truly immeasurable and will be with us for the rest of our lives. The bonds of friendship knit by us between all the brothers will be something that we will strengthen and cherish (Insha Allah). We said our goodbyes to all the Holy Infallibles, with the fervent hope that we will be blessed to visit them again together with our families (Insha Allah).
This camp helped me to gain spiritual closeness and, therefore, enabled me to become a better Muslim, since we live in a society that is not purely Islamic. It is important for us to know how to handle ourselves and act as examples to others, and this camp gave us the knowledge on how to be a shining example and also adapt to any situation. I needed to be strong and this trip gave me that strength and taught me many things which practically changed my life to a great extent (Alhamdulillah).
In my opinion, the opportunity to attend a camp of this nature is indeed a blessed one and an opportunity of a lifetime, especially for the youth who come from Western Countries.
Last but not least, my only prayer is that all brothers and sisters of the Ahlul Bayt (AS) all over the world, will be fortunate enough to attend this camp at least once in their lifetime, so that they too will be able to gain this wonderful experience of a lifetime (Insha Allah).”