Virtues of Pilgrimage Trips
In the Holy Quran, there are many verses which recommend making trips. This is according to Quran scholar Hojat-ol-Islam Seyed Javad Beheshti, speaking to IQNA in a series of talks on “Social Life with Sayyid al-Shuhada (AS)”. Following are excerpts from his speech in the first session:
More than 30 kinds of trips have been recommended. They include traveling for trade, education, prorogating religion, helping the poor, seeking help, etc.
One type of trips that has been recommended in several verses of the Holy Book is traveling to visit the House of God (Kaaba in Mecca). It is a pilgrimage trip that is Wajib (obligatory) for some Muslims and Mustahab (recommended) for some others.
God says in verse 20 of Surah Al-Ankabut: “Say: Travel in the land and see how He started the Creation. Then Allah will originate the Everlasting Life. Allah has power over all things.” God says in this verse that Muslims should travel on earth with holy objectives.
Imam Ali (AS) also recommend traveling and says in a letter to Imam Hassan (AS): “The example of those who have understood the world is like those travelers who, being disgusted with drought-stricken places set off for greenery and a fruitful place. Then they endure difficulties on the way, separation from friends, hardships of the journey and unwholesome food in order to reach their fields of plenty and place of stay. Consequently, they do not feel any pain in all this and do not regard any expenditure to be waste. Nothing is more lovable to them than what takes them near their goal and carries them closer to their place of stay.”
Now that we are in the Arbaeen season, we should also mention the annual Arbaeen pilgrimage. The Holy Prophet (PBUH) is the found who founded the pilgrimage trip to Karbala and the Arbaeen pilgrimage. He said: Come to visit me as long as I am live and after (I die) visit my tomb and visit Ali (AS), Hassan (AS) and Hussein (AS) and their children and after their martyrdom, visit their tombs.
