Updated 19 January 2010
Brother Shoka Ali of Bilal Kenya, was one of the lucky participants of The World Federation's Summer Course in 2009: Madinah al-Ilm.
Part of the Madinah al-Ilm ethos is to bring together young Shias from across the world so that they can meet and learn from one another and appreciate different cultures and backgrounds.
Here Shoka Ali gives his thoughts on the experience:
We arrived at Imam Khumayni Airport in Tehran near Fajr time and I heard the first ‘Adhan’ at the airport recited in the Shia fashion. I knew that we had arrived at the Holy land.
We received a warm welcome by our hosts at the airport where we were led to a smart bus to the Holy City of Qum.
Fajr Namaz and twilight programme
It was sometimes difficult to wake up and attend the twilight programme as we had slept very little at night! As the days went by I became used to it and I would wake up even before the namaz time. It was rather a good exercise for me as I would wake up, read some verses of the Holy Qur’an, and then attend the programme after namaz.
The Twilight Programme was conducted by Shaykh Ali Redha Walji of the UK who was studying in Qum. His programme had various lessons aimed at broadening ones' mind and intellect. We would gather in the hostel courtyard and form a semi circle with him facing us.
Through these discussions we were able to distinguish between elements like love, desire and attachment. Such discussions inspired me a lot. From this I realized that certain things that I thought I loved turned to be only desires. This helped me a lot in terms of shaping my life’s future. I learnt that reasoning was quite necessary before doing anything and that the decisions that one makes has great impact on the future.
Ziyarat
We performed our Ziyarat at the haram of Bibi Masuma in Qum. This tour was inspiring. Seeing many graves of great people really touched me. The explanation of Bibi Masuma’s story till she got there, I shed some tears. The sad part was that she never saw her brother Imam Ridha.
The huge crowd at the Jamkaran mosque was amazing. Men, women, and children came for ziyarat. This place became familiar to me as we would visit it frequently for ziyarat. The night that we spent there was nice. I would recited the Holy Qur’an, ziyarat & dua, personal duas and prayers more frequently. This was amazing because I had never seen thousands of people gathering at this mosque belonging to Imam Zamana (aj).
This is the known place for dua Tawwasul so people from all over come here every Tuesday. Cries of both ladies and men can be heard all over the field. This is a placed I never wished to leave. I pray to Allah that he’ll return us one more time.
Audiences
We had numerous lectures with great scholars and Ayatullahs from across the city of Qum. We visited some in their offices while others preferred it in their residence.
Akhlaq classes
This was a subject that touched mostly on the Nafs, taken by Sheikh Safiullah Khan. He is a great scholar who among all inspired me. We would distinguish between human and animalistic traits and desires. I would start correcting myself on acquiring full human morality and eliminating the animalistic traits in me. I also had the opportunity of a one on one discussion with him,which helped me a lot as he shared his own life history and experiences which were similar to mine. May God bless him even more.
Aqaid classes
This class was conducted by Syed Ali Aqib Jaafari. I learned about knowing God. It’s not a difficult task to convince even an Atheist that truly God exists and that God is Allah as we believe in Him. This only calls for fully understanding comprehensively about all that characterizes dependent and independent beings. I came to conclude that Allah is independent and is one, as he is perfect.
Quranic principles
This lecture was delivered by Sheikh Murtadha Allidina. We dealt with translating a portion of Surah Yusuf. What I learned was that I should never keep quiet from doing Amr Bil Ma'ruf and Nahi Anil Munkar. My voice may become of great help one way or another. For example, when the brothers of Yusuf were planning to slay him, one among them spoke up for a lesser punishment, he suggested dumping him in a well, and that was it.
Tehran Trip
The trip was amazing with the first place to visit being Imam Khomeyni’s shrine. The Juma prayers were exemplary and we had good reserved seating. Something that I will never forget was that all the cameras were on me as it happened that I was the sole black person there! Next, I heard that I was all over Iran media; T.V live, newspapers and the Internet. We had Khutba by Muhammad Khatami, the former president.
Next was the prison of Savak. This was the place where people deemed to be ‘Anti-Shah’ were detained. All sorts of punishments were practiced here, including plucking of finger and toe nails, hanging and unnecessary killing of innocent people.
Mount Khizr:
This mountain is five kilometers from Masjid Jamkaran. There is a mosque constructed there. From a far, one could see chains black in colour stretching along the road uphill. All these are ladies and men climbing up while others come downhill. At thetop, one can view the whole city of Qum on one side and a vastness of dry landscape on the other. This built up area seemed to represent the world and worldly affairs while the empty dry mountainous landscape represented the hereafter and the place we were (top of the mountain) represented the Barzakh. All these are signs of Allah (S.W.T) that we try to learn from.
The house of Imam Khomeini
One would think of paradise when mentioning or hearing of Imam Khomeini’s house. But he lived in a simple house of mud finishing. His life was very simple- till his death he did not want a luxurious complicated lifestyle even though he was the founder of the Islamic Republic.
Hamadan Trip
We visited Baba Taher's tomb and I learned that one should always strive hard to excel no matter how difficult the situation is as Baba Taher did in school. He barely knew anything and was even excluded. He finally emerged to be a great poet who the world shall live to remember.
The Ali Sadr cave was another amazing site. A big cave with a whole ocean underground, and water extending many miles.
Mashhad trip
We had to travel to Tehran to catch a plane to Mashhad. The hostels that were staying in were placed in an area where we’d see the dome of the Imam’s mosque. I would come out of my room on the 7th floor balcony and stare at the golden dome. I recited Munajaat-e Sha’baniyya with various Ziyarats and supplication. I would hardly sleep due to the busy road whose vehicles went to and from the Haram.
The Haram was packed even at odd hours of the days and nights. During Namaz one had to get there an hour before Adhan. Performing prayers in a huge congregation of that kind was enough to inspire me.
This was a blessed trip as on the 15th of Sha’aban we were in Mashhad, and it was a Thursday night. I spent that night and the night after in the Haram.
The entire trip was marvelous, inspiring, and educational. Visiting this Holy land was a dream come true. I had never imagined of reaching one of Prophet’s descendants, but there I was.
Having classes and lectures by great Alims like Sheikh Nadir Jaffer, Sheikh Safiullah, Sheikh Allidina and Sheikh Yasin was great. I asked questions that were answered effectively, reflecting personal real life examples.
Holy places like the Masjid Jamkaran, Bibi Fatemah Masuma’s Haram, Imam Ridha's Haram, Mount Khizr, the grave yard of Shohada, Shaykhan Graveyard was really inspiring. It reminded me of God all the time. One of the things that I gained was the frequent performance of supplications and Sunna Prayers, and reciting of the Holy Qur’an.
This was due to the assistance and guidance of the Bilal Offices and The World Federation. A lot of thanks to the Bilal Office, Africa Federation Tabligh Board and The World Federation for considering me among the selected few for the trip to the Holy land.
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