Saturday 11 January 2025

14 August 2023

Tourists of the Friend’s House

Recent developments in Illuminated Shrine of Ali Ibn Musa al-Reza (A.S.) have added to the number of its pilgrims. The importance of the holy city of Mashhad is now clear not only in Iran but also in the Islamic world.


Although it is not possible for the foreign visitors of the Razavi complex to inter into porticos around the holy chamber and Goharshad mosque, they are still attracted by the spiritual atmosphere of other places in the complex and as a result they spend hours to visit greatness of the architecture, worshiping ways, and Muslims’ pilgrimage there.
 
Poor Notification
Razavi Complex has got different categories of foreign visitors. A group of these pilgrims come from their countries with their personal budget and most of whom are not connected with Astan Quds Razavi Center for International Affairs. They come for the purpose of pilgrimage and then come back to their own countries.
Talking about this issue, Hujjat al-Islam wa al-Muslimin Seyyed Hamed Malakouti Tabar, head of communications and international cooperation office of Astan Quds Razavi Center for International Affairs says, “Our informing has unfortunately been very poor and most non-Iranian pilgrims are not aware of the organization’s services to take advantage of them. If the pilgrims come to the shrine collectively, they will be invited to the Razavi banquet hall and a tour of Razavi Shrine will be arranged for them. After the shrine tour, they will be guided, based on their mother tongue, to a portico; Arabic speaking pilgrims will be guided to the Ghadir Courtyard, Urdu speaking pilgrims to Kouthar portico and English speaking one to the Dar al-Rahmah portico. In these porticos and courtyard, they will be provided by a video clip about Razavi shrine and its history and cultural packs of Astan Quds Razavi. In case of having enough time, a lecture or a eulogy will also be arranged for them and at the end of the shrine tour a cultural gift will be offered to them”.   

Special Foreign Pilgrims
Among these foreign pilgrims, officials and cultural and political figures from different countries also come to the Holy Shrine. The Center for International Affairs anticipates some programs for these people based on the level of the person or delegation.
According to Hujjat al-Islam wa al-Muslimin Malakouti Tabar, this center has defined some cooperation with political and cultural figures from foreign countries since some time ago and it has got some joint programs with them.
Most of these salient people are form Islamic world’s holy sites with whom our cooperation has started since two years ago and it is being developed now.
Also, cultural and political personalities of different countries who announce their presence before their arrival will be provided with some programs among which we can point visiting Razavi Shrine, receiving blessed food, and holding joint sessions to discuss possible cooperation between Astan Quds Razavi and that foreign person or group. 
Cooperating with cultural and political figures from foreign countries has been fruitful and there have been many various and vast programs between Astan Quds Razavi and different countries through delegations and other assistances. According to the explanations given by the head of communications and international cooperation office of Astan Quds Razavi Center for International Affairs, Razavi Holy Shrine holds various programs for foreign pilgrims during Karamat Ten Days and last ten days of Safar month. The shrine also hosts this group of pilgrims of the eighth Imam (A.S.) with special programs during Ramadan and first ten days of Muharram. Under the Shade of the Sun caravans, dispatching missionaries, holding Razavi culture weeks, and so on are some programs which promote and propagate Razavi conduct during Karamat Ten Days and through collaboration with different organizations abroad. 

Needy Pilgrims of the Gracious Imam (A.S.)
Pakistanis are poor pilgrims of the shrine who come to Mashhad on the ground with lots of difficulty. Based on what was said by Hujjat al-Islam wa al-Muslimin Malabkouti Tabar, according to Astan Quds Razavi’s assent, up to 800 poor Pakistani pilgrims can enjoy three warm meals of the Razavi banquet hall every day. 
The identification process of the caravans of poor Pakistani pilgrims is in this way that when the caravan reaches to the Mirjaveh border line in Islamic Republic of Iran’s soil, the head of the caravan does all the necessary coordination with the Center for International Affairs and the relief assistance of the organization announces caravan’s information to the banquet hall to provide it with better services. When the food is ready, the assistance will take the caravan to the special place prepared for Pakistani pilgrims. 

Largest Number of Foreign Pilgrims
Foreign pilgrims of the shrine are mostly from Pakistan and Iraq and these two nationalities form the highest number of pilgrims in this holy place. Head of the communications and international cooperation office of Astan Quds Razavi Center for International Affairs says, “In the past, largest number of foreign pilgrims of the shrine were Iraqis and Saudi Arabian pilgrims had the second position. At the moment, however, Iraqis are still the first group of pilgrims in terms of number and Pakistani pilgrims are at the second place. Arabic speaking pilgrims from Qatar, Emirates, Kuwait, and Bahrain are in the third position. Pilgrims of European countries, central Asian countries, and India are in next places”.
Around ten percent of the foreign visitors who come to Iran also pay a visit to the Razavi Shrine and holy city of Mashhad. 
According to Hujjat al-Islam wa al-Msulimin Malakouti Tabar, this percentage of the gracious Imam’s (A.S.) foreign pilgrims is not acceptable at all and we have to strive to increase this number up to thirty percent.  

 

First Pilgrimage Visitors
Foreign pilgrims who pay their first visit to the Razav Shrine form another group of non-Iranian pilgrims of the Razavi complex about whom Malakouti Tabar says, “A headquarter is being shaped so that we can offer services to these group of people through this headquarter. These services include accommodation, blessed food of the Imam (A.S.), the Shrine tours, visiting museum and library of the complex, visa, legal consultations and cultural services”.  

Solidarity of the National Organizations 
We have millions of foreign pilgrims during the year. The Main purpose of most of these visitor is not pilgrimage at all and many of them may be even unaware about existence of Mashhad as an Iranian city and a holy place such as Imam Reza’s (A.S.) Holy Shrine to which they can come and enjoy its sites and facilities. Hujjat al-Islam Malakouti Tabar believes, “All national organizations of the country have to join Astan Quds Razavi in giving comprehensive information so that foreign pilgrims of the eighth Imam (A.S.) considers visiting Razavi Shrine in their travel program to Iran”.  

Invitation Letter by Passport
Receiving pilgrims’ passports, Astan Quds Razavi provides all foreign pilgrims with one blessed meal of the Razavi banquet hall during the year. According to the explanations given by head of communications and international cooperation office of Astan Quds Razavi Center for International Affairs, cooperating with the assistance of sacred premises, this center provided the pilgrims with one blessed meal for lunch or dinner. 
Banquet’s tickets and other services of Astan Quds Razavi are all done for the purpose of creating a good memory for pilgrims who are guests of our country. Proper and worthy hosting, however, needs close cooperation between other governmental organizations and Astan Quds Razavi.