Experience of Meeting Grand Ayatullah Sistani - January 2013

Salam Alaykum,

This Arbaeen I had the honor of going for ziyarat to Karbala and during the trip had the honor of meeting his eminence Grand Ayatullah Sayed Ali Hussaini Sistani (May Allah grant him long life) on January 5, 2013. For those of you who have not had this honor yet, I will briefly outline the experience one goes through for this meeting. It is not possible for one to just go to the door of Ayatullah Sistani and expect to meet him. But rather there is somewhat of a process one has to go through in requesting a meeting time with him. For those who come from out of Iraq and especially for groups, it is a bit easier as they are more flexible with groups. For Iraqis he has time everyday from morning until Dhuhr prayers in which they line up and wait to see him in a queue. Once we were able to secure our meeting time with him, we promptly showed up to his alley at the agreed time and the guards let us through. You are not allowed to bring anything with you inside and have to leave everything in a bag at the front which you can retrieve upon exiting. You then go through a series of extremely thorough security checks until finally you are allowed to enter a room where you will meet him.

The first impression you get as you enter his home is a feeling of awe and humbleness. The home he lives in is extremely simple with basic cushions sitting against the wall. It truly reflects the humbleness and modesty as taught by the Ahlulbayt (as). He is the leader of millions of Shia around the world and the most powerful personality in Iraq, yet he doesn't take advantage of that at all as many other leaders would. Then as you wait, his helpers serve you tea (which was probably the most delicious tea I had in my stay in Iraq) and give you water making sure you are comfortable. Then when it is time, you are allowed to go into the meeting room one by one in which there are a series of chairs in rows setup and benches that run around the wall of the room. Once everyone filled the room, the feeling of anticipation grew and I could feel in my heart something great was going to happen. And indeed a few moments later and it did..

The door opened and from the door emerged the figure whose presence has been in my life from the very day I had began praying as a child; whose name has been on the lips of every person around me all my life; whose book I have opened countless times a day to know what to do in every situation in life; and here he was and here I was in the very same room. I cannot describe the feeling that overwhelmed my heart at my very first glance of his eminence Ayatullah Sistani. It was similar to the feeling I got the very first time I set eyes upon Imam Hussain (as) shrine, but in a different way. It was probably a 3-4 second walk for Ayatullah Sistani from the door until he sat down in the corner, but for me it felt like a lifetime. All the thoughts and questions that had been fluttering in my mind immediately ceased and my whole presence and being was absorbed in this blessed man.

Once he sat down, I had the honor of sitting right across from him so that whenever he would look up he would be looking at me and I at him. For a few moments he sat with his eyes down in silence and my eyes were affixed upon him in such a way that nothing else existed for me at that moment. He looked just the way I had seen in pictures, but even more beautiful and radiant. There didn't seem to be a hint of weakness in him at all and you could feel that here sat probably the most complete and spiritual being living on earth at the moment after our Imam (as). Then when he lifted his eyes and his eyes met mine, I knew that I had gotten what I had came for and he didn't need to say anything else. I felt such energy rush through me that I can't describe. He then began speaking in Farsi. Lucky for me I had spent some time past few years studying farsi for this very reason so that I could understand our great Ulama and it really paid of during this meeting. I will try to briefly encapsulate the advice that he gave to us in points..

- In the beginning he welcomed us all and prayed for us that our ziyarat be accepted. He then began by giving advice on the importance of purifying ones self. He said it is of utmost importance that we work hard towards purifying our nafs and that success in this life comes from that. He then quoted the verse: "Successful are the ones who purify themselves" (Qur'an 87:14). 

- He then spoke about the importance of having good akhlaq. He said the whole purpose of prophethood and all the prophets was towards perfecting our manners and akhlaq with each other. He quoted the hadith of the Prophet (saw): "I have not been sent except to perfect the moral attributes". He said we should give great importance to how we treat our fellow brothers and sisters and should be the best in character with them. 

- He tied this into the best way to spread the religion of Ahlulbayt (as) in the west is through our character and morals. He quoted the hadith by Imam Sadiq (as): "Call people towards us with something other than your tongue". He said we should see everyone as being part of us and not being separate from us. We should treat each other the way we want to be treated. He then quoted the hadith by the Prophet (saw): "Want for your fellow brother/sister what you want for yourself. Hate for your fellow brother/sister what you hate for yourself". 

- He spoke about the importance of seeking knowledge as it is the foundation and basis of our religion and that knowledge is not confined to only religious knowledge. But the worldly knowledges are also important if we can use them to benefit the Islamic Ummah and that we should excel in all fields of knowledge. Once we have this knowledge we should teach it to our fellow brothers and sisters. He emphasized about how we are all one and that we should see others children as our own. If their parents cannot teach their children something and we have that knowledge, we should teach their children as if they are our own. 

- He then spoke about that there is a threat trying to grow within Shias that is trying to separate us from the Maraja. He said to be wary of it and that is trying to break us apart and separate us from Islam. He gave the example that when we get sick we don't write our own prescriptions but we go to a doctor and we follow the prescription that the doctor gives us because he is more knowledgable in medicine than us. He said the maraja are just like doctors of our soul and that it is because they have studied years all the knowledges such as Rijal, Hadith etc that they can tell us what is halal and haram based on the teachings of Ahlulbayt (as). 

- He finally said that he prays especially for the believers in the West every morning after Fajr that we remain steadfast and successful in our religion.

Someone asked Ayatullah Sistani (ha) about his health, he replied:

- Being 82 years old, he has no complaints about his health Alhamdulillah he is doing very well right now. He said the only thing that bothers him is that he has not left his home in years to go outside due to the situation and that does take a bit of a toll on him. But besides that he is doing well. 

Someone asked about why he doesn't start a Hawza in the west such as in London, he replied:

- He had spoken before to some people who run Shia institutions there but he said there we can only teach the basics and preliminaries. Students from the west who truly want to learn to be scholars should come to Najaf as all the resources and teachers are here and everything is established. 


That is briefly what I can recall from his talk as we weren't allowed to have any pencil or paper there. Overall it was a deeply spiritual and inspiring talk and you could feel the way he was talking to us was like a very loving father who cared about our success in this life and the next. Many times through the talk he was looking at me and I could feel a strong connection with him. When he finished, the guards signaled to us that our time as up and now we would have the opportunity to shake and kiss his hand. I waited patiently as people went one by one. I wanted as long of a time as possible to be in his presence. Finally when it was my turn my heart quaked as I slowly stepped closer to him. I took his hand into mine and kissed it and at the same time gave him money I had brought. When he asked what it was for, I told him it was for khums and then he gave it to his helper and told him to write it. And then while I was still holding his hand I asked him to pray for me as I am in need of his prayer, and he replied that he would pray for me. This brief personal conversation with him was truly a gift from Allah and put so much energy into my heart I cannot describe.

Words really cannot encapsulate the whole experience, but this should suffice to give a taste of what it is like to meet Ayatullah Sistani (ha). Please pray for him that Allah give him a long life and keep his shadow over us for a long time. We truly are in safe hands until the Imam (as) comes back to us.

InshAllah I will share more on this blog from other parts of my ziyarat journey..

Iltimase dua.