I have a new blog.

Okay so ... i decided to start using WordPress cause its way cooler and has more features and anyways we're trying to move everything to just one domain name (ie yazehra)
so the ne bloggy is

http://yazehra.com/karbala

so im gonna post there from now on.
of course all the way from the beginning.
and you can leave comment on there as well, and all that
andWordPress has like awesome templates :O :O :O
I'm Lovin' It!

when im done posting all the blog entries there .. then I'm going to delete this one.

6th September 2006, We've reached Iraq!!

we had to wake up early today ... but i couldnt i slept till 8:30 and had breakfast in bed.
we'd reached Um Qasar (in Basra) last night but leaving the ship today
we got off the ship at about 10:00-10:30
we had to wait at the port for pretty long and there were no AC's or fans and it was realllyyyy hot! luckily some Aunty had plastic plates which we used as fans :P
it was time for namaaz and there was a mosque nearby the port so we did namaaz and sat in the bus ... to Kerbala!

its a 9 hour trip to Kerbala for Basra and plus 1 hour for stopping for namaaz etc
didnt really do anything ... i was either listening to my mp3 most of the time or sleeping ...
everyone else was sleeping too >.>
and sometime on our way we had a jashn ...

at around 9:30 we stopped at a musaafir khaana for Magrib .
in another 3 hours we were in Kerbala ... everyone was looking out of the window to get a glimpse of the Roza ..
we had to walk a looonngg way to the hotel cause they didnt allow cars or buses near the area .. it was sooo pretty the haram was all lighted up but i couldnt see the Roza properly till i was near ..
my vision was reaally blurry .. dunno why maybe cause i was sleepy or what i dont know ...
everyone was really tired and were dragging along their bags to the hotel me and Sana just picked up the random trolley bags each of us holding two.

and there our hotel was! right in front of the Haram ...
out hotel was named after one of the doors of the Haram (it was opposite that door) - 'Bab Ul Salam' :]
by about 3:00 AM we all were having our dinner (a midnight feast rather :D) and had gotten our rooms ... guess wHaTtTt? i got a room facing the Haram and whenever i would wake up in the morning i would see the Roza! <3
it took a while for everyone to have dinner ... do ghusl and get ready etc.
and by that time it was Fajr ...

what happened after this, In the next post cause it'll be the next day already :D
oh and btw my pictures are too big and the index totally goes all the way down but thats okay atleast the pics are the right size and are not stretched or anything :D
the index isnt that important anyways (i still have to add pics for this post)

PiCtUrEs!:

on the way to Kerbala


Camelsss


Nehre Furaat and the moon ... i love this picture! <333


the board on the musaafir khaana where we stopped for namaz


Zakeeya in the bus ... after drinking shaani :D .. i like this pic!


we are heereeee! <3


The view from my room! *wub*

5th September 2006 - Day 3

Its 1:30 am and Sana & me dont want to sleep in our cabin ...
cause something bit me and now i have this big dana on my back ...
and Sana's like 'i dont wanna sleep in this room, i dont want that 'thing' to bite me as well'
so we went to the lounge with our pillows, chadars, backpacks and something to read ...
we were reading and i dont know how and when i fell asleep but i woke up again at 3:00 and Sanawas still awake .. i can NEVER stay awake for too long . im always the one who would go to sleep first at a slumber party *blush*

khair we got up and talked for a while and we thought lets go to our rooms and put our bags back atleast and when we got up we saw this weird crawly thing ... which looked sort of like a mixture of a cockroach and a spider and we both freaked out and left the lounge ...
but now we didnt know what to do ... and when we tried opening our cabin room .. Tahera Baji had locked it and gone to sleep so we couldnt go in ...
soi we knocked on Roshan Aunty and Shahnaz Aunty's room it wasnt very early just about 1/2 hour left for Fajr ..
so we woke up Shahnaz Aunty and told her ke go pray Namaaz e Shab ..youll get thawaab ...
and she went after insisting tht she should go and lt us sleep for a while :D

After Fajr we went back to our own room and went to sleep cause we were assured that the spiderish cockroach was what bit me and now it was gone
we woke up pretty early even though we hadnt slept the whole night ... and went to have breakfast and the ship started hilling a lot i started to feel real dizzy ... but i sorta didnt give it importance :P
after breakfast we went and took a few pictures ...

buri baat ... no ones commenting on here :(

It was soon Namaaz Time so we did Zohr Asr in Jamaat and went upstairs for lunch ... After lunch we had a dars with Maulana Uncle.. there were really few people and he explained what a rivayat is and how its made and everything ... hes into history so hes really good at explaining that stuff ... so it was good *nods*
after the dars we went out on the deck and daddy's like "lets have a majlis on the deck" so we went and called everyone and had a choti majlis on the deck... the weather was good too ..

The majlis got over at about 5:30 and there was still time for Maghrib and we wanted to go on the main deck (the Titanic one) and we couldnt go without permission, so we took the captains permission and me, Sana & Tahera Baji went on the deck and it was sooooo nice all we could see was water and it was so pretty! the wind was really pleasant and we took pictures too :D
it was getting dark and was almost time for maghrib so we thanked the captain and went back inside to pray Maghrib.
after 15 mins we went to the didning room for dinner and we sat with Maulana Uncle and had a discussion aout The Da Vinci Code. He didnt say much he just said that all the facts about Da Vinci's painting and the secret organisation etc were true. when i asked him if Prophet Isa (AS) really got married he said ke theres nothing in the Quran stating whether he got married or not or having kids. he said ke its possible he couldve gotten married.
then we had a majlis in the lounge. I went to sleep after that

A tiny boat! :]


Maulana Uncle


The Deck (NOT the titanic wala :P)

Majlis on the Deck

The Moon and the water <3


from the lounge ka window

just water

going down the stairs to the titanic wala deck

view from the titanic wala deck ... it was SO awesome! <3

the front of the ship

Titanic deck :P i dont know what you call it lol

Safety First

4th September 2006 - Day 2

I wasnt really feeling sleepy after Fajr so i decided to get some 'peace and quiet' (:O)
so i took my book and went outside on the deck to read it ... the weather was really pleasant so it was nice and the wind was blowing too :D
i read for about an hour then i started feeling sleepy..
when i went to our cabin everyone was sleeping and people were sleeping on all four beds (Sana, Tahera Baji, Shahnaz Aunty, Zakeeya) Shahnaz Aunty had shifted to our room for that night :/
when i knocked on Roshan Aunty's room no one opened it ...
and when i went to mummy & daddy's room ... they were sleeping & the two top bunks were empty but i didnt feel like sleeping on top ...
so i went to the lounge (aka namaaz room) and went to sleep their while sitting on a chair and put my legs on another chair :D
i dont know how long i slept but yeah i decided to go to mum & dads room and slept on the top bunk

i woke up pretty early for breakfast and we started doing tayyari for Zakeeya's party ... decorating the party hall and everything ... dressing up etc.
Zakeeya wanted to come with us but i told her to stay in the room cause the ship crew was chacking for cockroaches :P
...
We got ready and told everyone to sing Happy Birthday when she came in ..
we dressed her up in a pretty pink dress saying that you can wear a pretty dress today cause its your birthday... but we cant have a party..
everyone was waiting at the entrance with cameras and she was all confused "why is everyone taking pictures of me? 0.o"
when she entered no one san happy birthday everyone was aaraam se having their lunch i got soooooo upset .. D=
but when she came inside and saw all the decoration and the cake she got SO surprised ... and she was all OMG!!! hehe :D
After everyone had lunch ... Shujaath Uncle and Raza Sirsavi had written a few shaurs for us which they recited :)

later we cut the cake and gave out the goody bags ... and all the close ghar wale people took pictures and opened the gifts she got ...
we sat their till about 4:30 something
she was really happy and hyper the whole day :P

We (Sana, Me & Zakeeya) were really tired so all three of us had a pretty long nap ...
woke up in time (well sorta late) for Maghrib namaz ...
after which we had dinner
then had a majlis in the lounge/prayer room. Maulana Muntazar Abbas (Maulana Uncle) recited a majlis on the benefits of ziyarats and loootttss of stuff about ziyarah ...

tis was a good day ...

Pictures!!!

The decoration (teh work of Muneer Uncle, Babban Bhai, Roshan Aunty for blowing the ballons, Tahera baji & Sana)


The excited Zakeeya (Biiigg grin :D)


Zakeeya reciting Dua E imam E Zamana (AJTF)


Shujaath Uncle


Raza Sirsavi


Zakeeya and her cake


Muneer Uncle :D :D


Babban Bhai :D :D


Zakeeya with her dada

Wassalaam!

3rd September 2006 (Day 1)

We were leaving to Kerbala today and everyone was so excited! and there was so much chaos at home before leaving!
i woke up at 12 aaraam sei ... cause i had ironed my clothes and kept everything ready the last night. We left home at about 1:00 PM
This time Zakeeya was coming too and she was really excited cause she would get to see 'What dadijaan always watches on Al Anwar TV' :D

When we got to the port everyone was there and there was lots of kichkich :/
some people were even asking questions like 'Do our ears hurt in a ship like how they do in a plane?' *!!!*

Me, Sana, Zakeeya, Daddy, Munir Uncle, Raza Uncle & Maulana Muntazar Abbas ...
went in last cause i had to wait till my bhabi came from school (to the port) to see us off

At around 4:30 everyone was in the ship waiting for getting their room keys ...
Me & Sana got our room real jaldi so we went and rested for a while ..

Our cabin :)
We started feeling hungry and dinner was at 8:00 (sooo late :/)
so we had Shami Paratha and chips :P

In a while it was time for Maghrib .. so we did Namaaz, Had dinner & went back to our rooms
After Zakeeya went to sleep we started preparations for Zakeeya's surprise B'day party the next day ...
twas about 11:00 when we started packing the goody bags ...
we didnt do it in our room though we went to Roshan Behns room cause the roomate was getting disturbed by some noise and she shifted to our cabin and we had to do our work in Roshan Behns room :)
It took real long to do it ... we finished it around one but we didnt sleep till 2:30-3:00 cause the noise was disturbing us too ...
I went to sleep earlier than Sana though .. we were together the whole time .. after all we're best friends :D

Leaving

Salaaam!

We're leaving for Iraq in less than 12 hours InshaAllah! *wub*
I can hardly wait ... !
(*wonders why Blueberry isnt blogging >.> i even told her to blog :O*) --> i wont delete this till she does :D
btw .. aik zabardast good news hai
This uncle opened a Net Cafe in out hotel
and now i can blog from there!!

Later,
My next post will be from Kerbala :]
Wassalaam.

Sayings & Traditions =]

Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s.),
'One who visits us after we have passed away is like the one who has visited us while we were alive.'
(Behaarul Anwar, vol 100 pg 124)

One who wants to get respite from the difficulties of death and hopes for ease and tranquility instead, must visit Imam Husain’s (a.s.) shrine as much as possible because visiting Imam (a.s.) is like visiting, the Holy Prophet of Islam (s.a.w.).
(Kaamil al-Ziaaraat of Ibn Qoolwayh (r.a.), pg. 150, Behaar al-Anwaar, vol. 101 pg. 77)

Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s.) relates,
‘Janabe Fatema binte Mohammad (s.a.) calls upon the one who visits Imam Husain’s (a.s.) shrine. She seeks forgiveness for his sins and his sins are forgiven.’
(Kaamil al-Ziaaraat pg. 118)

Imam Sadiq (a.s.) narrates, 'Allah has appointed some angels at Imam Husain's grave. When a Shia makes the intention for Imam Husain's (a.s.) Ziarat, Allah forgives all his sins. When he takes a step to go for Ziarat, he erases his sins. His virtues multiply and they increase till the time he becomes worthy of Paradise’.
(Wasailul Mohibbeen, pg. 280)

And when he leaves his house, be it by foot or on a mount, Allah sends 4,000 angels with him. They send salutations upon him (i.e. the visitor) till they reach Imam Husain's (a.s.) grave.
(Behaarul Anwar,vol 101,p. 163,trad. 8; Kamiluz Ziaraat,p.206)

'When a Shia leaves his house with the intention of performing Imam Husain's (a.s.) ziarat, he is accompanied by 700 angels. They safeguard him from above and below, from the right and the left, from the front and the back, till such a time that he reaches his destination.'
(Behaarul Anwar, vol. 101, pg. 58, trad. 62;Kamiluz Ziaraat, pg 190)

From every drop of perspiration on the body of Imam's (a.s.) visitor (in the course of Ziarat). Allah creates 70,000 angels who glorify and seek forgiveness for Imam's (a.s.) visitors till the Day of Judgement.
(Mustadrak vol 2, pg 204)

'If one of our Shias goes for Imam Husain's (a.s.) Ziarat, then he will not return but all his sins will be forgiven. For every step that he or his mount takes, 1,000 virtues are written for him, 1,000 sins are forgiven and his status is elevated by a 1,000 degrees.'
(Behaarul Anwar, vol 101, pg 25, tradition 26; Kamiluz Ziaraat, pg 134)

'There are 4,000 angels at the holy shrine of Imam Husain (a.s.). Their heads are covered with dust and they are wailing and will continue to do so till the Day of Judgment. Their leader is called 'Mansoor'. When a person comes to visit Imam's (a.s.) shrine, all these angels welcome him.'
(Kafi, vol 4, pg 581)

'One who visits Imam Husain's (a.s.) shrine with complete sincerity, then Jibraeel, Mikaeel and Israfeel accompany him at every step till he returns home, from ziarat.'
(Behaarul Anwar, vol 101, pg 20; Kamiluz Ziaraat, pg 145)

'If Imam Husain's (a.s.) visitor falls sick, the angels visit him every morning and evening. If he expires, they participate in his funeral and till the Day of Judgment they pray for his forgiveness. These angels are awaiting the reappearance of Imam Mahdi (a.t.f.s.).'
(Kamiluz Ziaraat, pg 192)

more at sources:
Source 1
Source 2