Grand Ayatollah Shirazi: The Essence of Arbaeen Pilgrimage Lies in Presence at Karbala
Grand Ayatollah Shirazi: The Essence of Arbaeen Pilgrimage Lies in Presence at Karbala
————————————————-
The daily scholarly session of Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Sadiq Hussaini Shirazi was held on Wednesday, 3rd Rabi al-Awwal 1447 AH, where His Eminence addressed jurisprudential questions and discussed the concept of ziyarah (pilgrimage).
Speaking on the true meaning of ziyarah, Grand Ayatollah Shirazi explained that in Arabic, the term signifies presence and visitation. He stressed that for Arbaeen, if a pilgrim reaches Karbala and stands before the shrine of Imam Hussain (peace be upon him), even without reciting salutations, it still constitutes the Arbaeen Ziyarah.
The Supreme Marja clarified that while reciting the Ziyarah text is meritorious, the essence of ziyarah is physical presence. Doing ziyarah from afar, he noted, is not technically ziyarah in the Arabic linguistic sense. However, due to the unique spiritual status of the Infallible Imams (peace be upon them), remote salutations such as saying “Peace be upon you, O Aba Abdillah” are Divinely accepted as equivalent to being present at Karbala. This exceptional allowance also applies to the awaited Imam al-Mahdi (may God hasten his reappearance).
His Eminence emphasized that such an exception does not apply to non-Infallibles.
Addressing the timing of Arbaeen pilgrimage, Grand Ayatollah Shirazi underlined that the authentic meaning of the ritual is tied to the day of Arbaeen itself, not before or after. Yet, he acknowledged that based on broader principles of Islamic recommended acts (mustahabbat), there is jurisprudential flexibility, allowing visits a few days before or after Arbaeen to still carry reward and merit—though not identical to the precise timing.
He concluded by comparing this to night prayers, where the most virtuous time is midnight, but performing them earlier or later during the day, due to some reasons, still grants spiritual reward.
