Kamil-Al-Ziyarat

Kamel Al_Ziarat

Author	Ibn Qulawayh al-Qummi
Language	English
Published	2017
Publisher	Independently published
Pages	373

Kamil-Al-Ziyarat or Ketab al-Ziyarat or Jame al-Ziyarat, is a reliable book about the pilgrimage to the Prophet (Prophet of Islam), the infallible imams, imams' children, momenin (the believers), and the great men in Islam. The rewards of these pilgrimages are also mentioned in the book.

About the author

Ibne Quluwayh, Abil Qasim Ja’far bin Muhammad bin Musa (368 or 369 A.H/ 979 or 980 A.D) was born in Qom and he was among the reliable scholars and Mohaddes (hadith narrator) of Shias in the fourth century. His expertise in knowing the narrations as well as the validity of the narrations present in his works made him one of the most reliable scholars of his time who was repeatedly referred to and respected by many great Shia scholars. Regarding his reliability it is noteworthy that Shekh Mofid mentioned his honesty. Ibne Quluwayh died in Bagdad and he was buried in al-Kadhamiya. The book Modava al-Jasad, Tarikh al-Shohur va Havades Fiha, the book Al-Salat and the book al-Rad Ali ibn Davood fi Adad Shahr Ramadan are among his books.

َAbout the book

In the fourth century, to pay his tribute to the infallibles and specially the battle of Karbala, Abil Qasim Ja’far bin Muhammad bin Quluwayh Qomi (368 or 369 A.H/ 979 or 980 A.D) decided to gather a collection of the existing narrations and hadiths regarding the rewards and virtues of pilgrimage to the holy Islamic sites. The result was a thorough book which has been considered as one of the most important resources of pilgrimage and Shia calamities to this day which is 11 centuries after his death.

A couple of handwritten versions of Jamme al-Ziyarat exists:

• The version present in Kashef al-Ghata library in Najaf
• The version present in Ayatollah Khansari library
• The version present in Sayyid Hasan Sadr library, the author of the book Tasis al-Shia
• The version in the Islamic parliament library with Muhammad Shafi Kermani's handwriting
• The version in Astan Quds Razavi's library written with Sayyid abul Qasim Najafi's handwriting

Ketab al-Ziyarat has been published many times in the last century. Among the published versions the one that was prepared by Allameh Amini's research, Ali Akbar Ghaffari's correction and Muhammad Ali Ardobadi's introduction can be named as well as the republished version of it in the last decades which was translated by Hussain Ansarian in winter 1399 and published by Erfan publishing centre. Also the book has been translated to English and the selected parts are also translated to Urdu.

The abstract of the book

The one hundred eight Babs (parts) of the book Kamil-Al-Ziyarat are all about the rewards (thawab) and virtues of pilgrimage to the holy sites. For instance the fourth Bab (part) is about the reward of saying prayers in Al-Rasool Al-Akram's mosque, the tenth Bab (part) is about the reward of Amir al-Momenin's pilgrimage, the ninety ninth Bab (part) is about the reward of a pilgrimage to Hadrat abi al-Hasan Musa ibn Ja’afar tomb and Muhammad ibn Ali al-Jawad in Baghdad; the one hundred fourth Bab (part) is dedicated to the pilgrimage prayers (Ziyarat Nameh) of all the Imams, (Ziyarat Jamee).

In addition to the Imams, two parts of the discussed book are about two of the Imams' children. Ibne Quluwayh has dedicated the 107^th part, two pages altogether, to the reward of pilgrimage to the tomb of Hadrat Abd al-Azim ibn Abdollah al-Hussaini in Rey. Also, two parts of the book are about the rewards and virtues of pilgrimage to Hadrat Hamzeh and the tombs of the martyrs of the Badr battle (5^th part) and the believers and its quality (105^th part).

As mentioned before, most parts of the book, including 85 out of 118 parts, are about Husayni's move, the battle of Karbala, Ashura, and Imam Husayn. The titles of some parts of the book allocated to Sayyid al-Shuhada in the book are as follows:

48^th Bab: about how the pilgrim visiting Husayn ibn Ali should be

51^st Bab: the days spent on going on pilgrimage to Imam Husayn's shrine does not count as a part of his life

62^nd Bab: Imam Husayn's pilgrimage wipes out the sins

65^th Bab: Imam Husayn's pilgrimage equals one Haj and one Umrah

79^th Bab: narrating the pilgrimages for Hadrat Hussain ibn Ali

91^st Bab: how the soil (turbah) of the tomb of Imam Hussain is healing and how mustahabb it is.

92^nd Bab: the soil (turbah) of the grave of Imam Hussain is healing and a form of safety.

94^th Bab: what one has to say while eating the soil (turbah)           

In the book “historical bibliography of Imam Hussain” by Esfandiary, the author believes the number of Babs (parts) dedicated to Imam Hussain in Kamil-Al-Ziyarat to be 83, including Babs 16-98, whose titles are directly about Imam Hussain. In addition to those 83 Babs, the content of 13^th Bab (regarding the virtue of al-Furat, drinking its water and washing yourself in it) and 108^th Bab (Ziyarat Nadereh) are about Husayni move and the battle of Karbala.

The whole book of Jame al-Ziyarat is about the virtue and rewards of pilgrimage to the tombs of the infallibles and mourning their calamities. As a result, the structure of the book is based on the fact that the content of the book, including 843 narrations (hadith), is presented in 108 Babs. Each Bab (part) gives the text of the narration in Arabic, and its translation in Persian is also provided. For example, the 81 Bab (missing the mandatory prayers and asking for permission to perform Mustahab prayers in the shrine of Imam Hussain (Haer) and other holy religious sites) is comprised of 7 short or long narrations (hadiths)  (ibn Gholouyeh al-Ghomi, 1392: pages 332-330). But in this regard, the ninth Bab of the book Jame al-Ziyarat has to be mentioned. The title of this Bab is "to clarify the place where the tomb of Amir al-Momenin is located." But in this Bab, although not mentioned in the title, the place where the holy head of Sayyid al-Shuhada is buried is also stated (for instance, the sixth hadith in ninth Bab).

The content presented by Ibne Quluwayh in 85 Babs (out of 108 Babs) and 341 pages (about 78% of the text) is about the events in Karbala, Ashura move, Imam Husayn and his companions. Also, the book plays a crucial role with an extraordinary impact on the ways of Husayni mourning in the later centuries even up to now. With these elements in mind, it has to be mentioned that Ketab al-Ziyarat is a book dedicated to Ashura's move and the battle of Karbala. Although some Babs (parts) in the book are about the rewards and virtues of pilgrimage to the great Prophet, other imams, the great ones, the believers, and two of Imams' children, the book is one of the most important resources of a particular view on Husayni move and studying Ashura.  The book's general structure, how the events are narrated, and how Ashura and Karbala are looked at in Kamil-Al-Ziyarat are all used in the later centuries in the same order of the original book, even in a more expanded way. Being considered an "emotional view" towards Karbala, this view with the same structure and content has been used in other books even more than one thousand years after al-Ziyarat was written.

Another interesting fact about al-Ziyarat is the lack of an entire Bab (part) about Lady Fatimah. In the other parts, including the sixth Bab, which is dedicated to the rewards and virtues of pilgrimage to religious sites in Medina, pilgrimage to Lady Fatimah is not mentioned either. In hadith number 5 in the same Bab (part), "Arafeh, Ibrahim's mother" and saying prayers there are mentioned. Bab number one hundred and six in the book is dedicated to stating the rewards and virtues of pilgrimage to Fatimah, Musa B. Ja'far's daughter in Qom (consisting of 2 narrations). It seems that at the time of writing the book of al-Ziyarat (fourth Hijri century), keeping the burial place of Lady Fatimah from others was of such importance among Shias that Ibne Quluwayh decided to keep it a secret and not to mention the location or the rewards of pilgrimage to it directly. Only in the third Bab (part) entitled "pilgrimage to the prophet of God and saying prayers there" refers to a saying from the Prophet: there is a garden from heaven between my stage and my tomb." which is where lady Fatimah was buried.

Kamil-Al-Ziyarat is one of the essential sources for writing books about prayers, calamities, mourning, and pilgrimage (Ziyarat Ashura, for instance) among Shias. Moreover, the narrations mentioned in Kamil-Al-Ziyarat are referred to by many Shia scholars while writing books such as al-Mazar by Sheykh Mofid, Tahzib VA Estebsar by Sheikh Tousi, and al-Mazar by ibn Mashhadi. Allameh Majlesi refers to al-Ziyarat as the reliable and renowned principles of Shia scholars.

Sources

• Ibne Quluwayh, Ja'far ibn Muhammad (368 LNY), Kamil-Al-Ziyarat, Persian-Arabic, translator: Muhammad Jawad Zehni Tehrani. Tehran: Payam Hagh, eighth edition, 1392
• Eghtebasat Kamil-Al-Ziyarat, Ibne Quluwayh Qomi, Muhammad Mahdi Rezaee, translated by Seyyid Mobin Heydar Razawi: Tehran, Masha’r Publication, 1395
• Muhammad Esfandiary, KetabShenasi Tarikhi Imam Hussain (Imam Hussain historical bibliography), second edition. Tehran; Arma Publication. 1400
• Naser Antigheh Chi and Ne’mat Allah Safari Foroushani, Barresi Ravabeth Dolathayeh Shii dar Gharn 4 Hijri, Tarikh dar Ayeneh Pajouhesh, number 3, 8^th year, fall and winter 1390, pages 34-37