Speech by Ayatullah Fazel Lankarani on the occasion of the birth of Hazrat Masoumeh (PBUH) and the beginning of the 10 days of of Magnanimity

In the beginning, I would like to congratulate you on the blessed 10 days of of Magnanimity. These 10 days begin with the birth of Hazrat Fatimah Masoumeh (peace be upon her) and end with the birth of Imam Ali bin Musa al-Reza (upon whom be peace).

In the past, there were arguments about the date of birth and demise of Hazrat Masoumeh (peace be upon her). These arguments did not reach a clear conclusion. During the lifetime of our late father (may God bless him and grant him peace) the honorable caretaker of the Holy Shrine of Lady Masoumeh (peace be upon her) wrote a letter to him asking if he agreed that the first day of Dhul Qadah be declared as the birthday of Hazrat Masoumeh (peace be upon her). In response, my father endorsed it and said, "Even though the birth date of Hazrat Masoumeh (peace be upon her) is not known, but because she has a high scientific and spiritual status and is not only the daughter of an Imam, but also the sister of an Imam, and the aunt of an Imam; therefore, It is appropriate to declare a day of the calendar for honoring her distinguished personality."

One of the imamzadehs that has a ziara-text narrated from the Imams is Fatima Masoumeh (peace be upon her). To prove her scientific position, it is enough that some people from Qom had gone to Madinah to ask Imam Kazim (peace be upon him) some questions. The Imam was not at home. Hazrat Masoumeh (peace be upon her) received those questions and answered them all. When they were returning, they saw Imam Kadhim (peace be upon him) in the middle of the road and told him what had happened. Imam Kazim (peace be upon him) said, "May her father be sacrificed for her." The Imam (peace be upon him) checked and confirmed all those answers. It shows that even though Hazrat Masoumeh (peace be upon her) was at a young age at that time, she had a high scientific reputation. The fact that three imams, Imam Sadiq, Imam Reza, and Imam Javad (peace be upon them) have encouraged us to visit her Holy shrine and said that "whoever visits her holy shrine will enter Heaven," or "whoever visits her holy shrine will be entitled to enter the Heaven," reveals a truth.

Why did three imams say that? When Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said this, Hazrat Masoumeh was not even born yet. The three imams emphasized going on pilgrimage to her Holy Shrine and promised that Paradise would be the reward for he who visits her Holy Shrine while knowing her position (there are some points in saying this as well, namely while knowing her position). This means that Hazrat Masoumeh (peace be upon her) has a great status and position.

In her ziara-text we say, "You have an important position before God." We must gain knowledge and awareness of this position. Whoever visits her holy shrine knowing her position will become of the people of Paradise. These are issues to which we should pay attention. We should get to know her better. We should make time to visit her holy shrine more. Today, thanks be to God, many books have been published about the miracles of Hazrah Masoumeh (peace be upon her), and I myself know a few of them. These are things that have certainly happened and encourage us more to visit her holy shrine and increase our knowledge and spirituality by going to this center of light and knowledge.

Truly, when a person visits her holy shrine, when he comes out, he feels that he has been blessed with a light in his heart.

In any case, in response to that letter my late father emphasized the greatness of her status and the role it played in blooming of the seminaries, and that the seminary of Qom was established as one of the blessings of this holy grave. All these lectures and discussions and Books are the benefits of this holy shrine. We should celebrate one day as her birthday and mourn one day as her death anniversary. When my father said this, some objected that her birth date was not known. My late father said that, "it is true that her date of birth is not known, but isn't it a duty for us to appoint a day to honor her?"

Since then celebrating this day has become a custom. Every year more people visit this holy grave and it has gained a global attention. This provides a great opportunity to spread Islam and the teachings of the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them).

The 10 days of of Magnanimity end with the auspicious birthday of Imam Ali bin Musa al-Reza (peace and blessings be upon him). We Iranians are honored that the holy grave of the eighth Imam (peace be upon him) is in our country.

Imam Khomeini (may God bless him and grant him peace) used to say that Mashhad is the center of Iran. The eighth Imam (peace be upon him) is the symbol of Shiism, because everyone who accepts the imamate of the eighth imam believes in the imamate of the Imams who came after him. The blessings of visiting the holy shrine of the 8th Imam (peace be upon him) are innumerable, and we cannot really say what benefits are there in pilgrimage to the grave of the 8th Imam. In other words, they are not comprehensible and thus cannot be expressed.

This pilgrimage is the pilgrimage of all the prophets and all the Imams. It is the pilgrimage of all the infallibles. It is purely monotheistic. These pilgrimages are actually practicing monotheism. Without these pilgrimages monotheism cannot be realized. The Wahhabis, out of ignorance, call this act polytheism because they think that the Shiites, God forbid, worship the stone, wall, or iron of a dead person's grave while there is proof that knowledge of and closeness to God is not possible other than through these infallibles. That is why in the ziara-texts we say "through you I become closer to Allah." There are many proofs not just one that prove this. These pilgrimages improve one’s monotheism.

Some of our great scholars would board a bus from Qom on a Wednesday evening and go to Mashhad, even if they could visit the holy shrine but once and would return to get to their classes on the following Saturday. They knew the importance of these pilgrimages. There are arguments as to whether the pilgrimage to the holy shrine of Imam Reza (peace be upon him) has more reward or the pilgrimage to the holy shrine of Imam al-Hussein (peace be upon him). Form some aspects, as Imam Javad (peace be upon him) has been reported to have said, pilgrimage to the holy shrine of Imam Reza (peace be upon him) has more reward than pilgrimage to the holy shrine of Imam Hussain (peace be upon him). There is no problem in that. Same way, from some aspects, pilgrimage to the holy shrine of Imam Hussain (peace be upon him) has more reward than pilgrimage to the grave of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) because those aspects are not present in visiting the grave of the Prophet (peace be upon him).

At the end of my speech, I would like to emphasize again that we should pay more attention to the beginning and the end of these 10 days so that, God willing, all of us can benefit from its blessings.