The Manifestation of Rationality in the Ziyarat of Lady Masumah (PBUH)

Lady Masumah, peace be upon her, is among those especially close to the Divine Presence. In her ziyarat, taught by Imam al-Rida, peace be upon him, the pilgrim addresses her: “Indeed, you have with God a station of great distinction.” This expression is used in the ziyarat texts of the Ahl al-Bayt, peace be upon them, concerning the pure Imams and the Messenger of God, peace be upon them. (2)

In narrations transmitted from Imam al-Sadiq, Imam al-Rida, and Imam al-Jawad, peace be upon them, great emphasis is placed on visiting her. They have said: “Whoever visits her, Paradise becomes incumbent upon him.” (3) They have also said: “Whoever visits her shall have Paradise.” (4) Whoever visits her is assured of Paradise, and Paradise belongs to the visitor of that noble lady.

The equivalence of visiting her with Paradise is itself another proof of her spiritual rank and of her nearness to her Lord.

The people of faith who, after passing through severe trials and tribulations in this world, have been able to preserve their faith have been promised Paradise. Paradise is a collection of inexhaustible blessings that God has prepared for believers: material blessings and spiritual perfections whose outline has been depicted in verses and narrations. God Most High has made Paradise the price of the lives of believing people and has said that your price is nothing but Paradise, so do not sell yourselves for anything other than it: “Indeed, your bodies have no price except Paradise, so do not sell them for anything else.” (5)

Whoever possesses reason will be a person of faith, and whoever is a person of faith will enter Paradise. (6) Therefore, one who is not rational and does not properly benefit from one’s reason will not enter Paradise. One who does not follow one’s reason and instead follows what is other than reason will never have Paradise made incumbent upon one. From the perspective of the Qur’an and the Ahl al-Bayt, peace be upon them, people are divided into two broad groups: those who reason and possess intellect and understanding, and those who do not reason and possess cunning. God will fill Paradise with those who reason, while Hell will overflow with people to whom God has granted reason but who engage in cunning instead of reasoning.

Therefore, when Paradise becomes incumbent upon the pilgrim of Lady Masumah, peace be upon her, it means that the pilgrim of that great lady reasons and does not employ intellect in the path of cunning. For, as Imam al-Sadiq, peace be upon him, said: “Whoever is rational has religion, and whoever has religion will enter Paradise.” It can readily be understood that Paradise becoming incumbent upon the pilgrim does not mean that obligations are lifted from the pilgrim; rather, it means that this ziyarat leaves such a spiritual and cognitive effect on a person that it places that person among those who reason. Ziyarat causes ignorance and cunning to depart from a person. In truth, visiting the family of the Noble Prophet, the pure Imams, peace be upon them, and Lady Fatimah Masumah, peace be upon her, indicates the pilgrim’s reasoning, and God the Exalted introduces failure to reason as one of the causes of falling into Hell. (7) Clearly, Paradise becomes incumbent upon one who is among those who reason.

The ziyarat of Lady Masumah, peace be upon her, points to this important matter. In this ziyarat, after declaring God’s greatness, glorifying Him, and praising Him, the pilgrim sends greetings to the divine prophets, from Adam and Noah to the Seal of the Prophets, and then sends greetings to each of the successors of the Noble Prophet of Islam. After greeting Imam Hasan al-Askari, peace be upon him, the pilgrim greets the Imam of the Age with the phrase: “Peace be upon the successor after him.” In this ziyarat, the pilgrim declares that one knows the course of divine guidance well and, by greeting God’s chosen ones and the pure Imams, considers oneself humble before truth. This humility before truth indicates a person’s greater rationality, as Musa ibn Ja‘far said to Hisham: “O Hisham, Luqman said to his son: Be humble before the truth, and you will become the most rational of people...” (8) O Hisham, indeed Luqman told his son: Be humble before the truth so that you may become the most rational of people. Therefore, the pilgrim has no personal opinion or view in the face of truth, and will be humble before what one finds from God’s proofs, without arrogance toward it.

Although this ziyarat was taught by Imam al-Rida, peace be upon him, it emphasizes the imamate of the Imams after Imam al-Rida, peace be upon them, especially the imamate of Imam al-Zaman, may God hasten his noble relief. After greeting God’s final proof, the pilgrim invokes blessings upon him with five titles: “O God, bless Your light, Your lamp, the guardian of Your guardian, the successor of Your successor, and Your proof over Your creation.” In this blessing, the Master of the Age is described as God’s light, lamp, guardian, successor, and proof over all creation. In this ziyarat, the pilgrim asks God for the opening of the affair of the Ahl al-Bayt—that is, the appearance of Imam al-Zaman—and for the joy of the Prophet’s household. This means that the pilgrim visits Lady Masumah with knowledge, love, and acceptance of the imamate of the hidden Imam, and visits that great lady while awaiting relief, which is the best of deeds.

In the final parts of the ziyarat, the pilgrim declares that through love for and allegiance to the Imams of guidance, one moves toward divine unity and nearness to God; and through dissociation from their enemies, one removes polytheism from oneself. Finally, the pilgrim asks God for two very important things in this ziyarat. In these two supplications, the pilgrim asks for steadfastness in guidance and for the knowledge of the Ahl al-Bayt to remain firm in the heart. Addressing Lady Masumah, peace be upon her, the pilgrim says: “I ask God that ... He not take away from us the knowledge of you.” The pilgrim asks God not to take away knowledge and recognition of them. Finally, the pilgrim humbly asks God Most High: “O God, I ask You to conclude my life with felicity, so do not take away from me what I am in”; that is, allegiance and dissociation.

These supplications show the pilgrim’s fearfulness. This ziyarat teaches the pilgrim that one must always remain attentive to one’s guidance, since it is possible to deviate from the path of truth. The pilgrim learns that the most important supplication and request before God is steadfastness on the path of divine unity and the guidance of the pure Imams. Not neglecting the fact that the human heart may deviate from the path of truth, turn toward allegiance to the rulers of falsehood, leave the sphere of divine unity and allegiance to God’s governors, and move toward polytheism and disbelief, indicates the pilgrim’s rationality. Put differently, by drawing attention to this truth, the ziyarat keeps the spirit of reasoning alive in the pilgrim. Therefore, the pilgrim always watches one’s thoughts, beliefs, movements, and conduct in life.

The formative outcome of this ziyarat is that the pilgrim becomes righteous, or more precisely, remains in righteousness. Musa ibn Ja‘far, peace be upon them, said to Hisham ibn al-Hakam: “O Hisham, God relates of the righteous people that they say: Our Lord, do not let our hearts deviate after You have guided them, and grant us mercy from Yourself, for You are indeed the Most Generous; because they knew that hearts deviate and incline toward blindness and crookedness.”

One who has not been made wise by God does not fear God, and one who receives no wisdom from God will not have a heart steadfast upon a firm knowledge through which one gains insight and recognizes its reality. No one will be like this unless one’s speech confirms one’s conduct and one’s inward and outward are the same; for God Most High has not appointed any proof for the hidden inner intellect except an outward manifestation that tells of the inward. (9)

Therefore, the pilgrim of Lady Masumah is a righteous person who knows that the heart may deviate and, in this regard, fears the merciful God. The sign of one’s fear of the Lord is that one’s speech and action conform and one’s inward and outward are alike. This quality is evidence of the rationality of Lady Masumah’s pilgrim, peace be upon her.

According to what has passed, the pilgrim of Lady Masumah, peace be upon her, is guided by the transmitted ziyarat of Imam al-Rida, peace be upon him, toward reform and reasoning. The pilgrim learns to be humble before the front of truth and reality and to adopt dissociation and repudiation toward polytheism, disbelief, and the enemies of the Ahl al-Bayt, peace be upon them. Having received a reason from God, the pilgrim is directed in this ziyarat toward the best of deeds, namely awaiting relief, and while invoking blessings upon the hidden proof, calls upon God for his appearance and victory. Thus the pilgrim enters such a course of perfection and gains such momentum on this path that, because of this ziyarat, Paradise becomes incumbent upon the pilgrim.