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The Blue Masjid in Mazari Sharif

1. Ali ibn Abi Talib was an early Islamic leader. He is seen by Sunni Muslims as the last of the four Rightly Guided Caliphs. Shi'a Muslims consider him the First Imam appointed by the Prophet Muhammad and the first rightful caliph. Ali was the cousin of Prophert Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be Upon him), and after marriage to Fatima Zahra, he also became Muhammad's son-in-law.

Rawze-e-Sharif
Rawze-e-Sharif, also known as the Blue Masjid was founded in the year 1512 and has been restored and renovated over 200 times. The Masjid covers hundreds of acres; it is located in Mazari Sharif in the province of Balkh, Afghanistan.

It is said by some to be the resting place of the Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth caliph and the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He is revered as the first Shi'a imam by Shi'a Muslims. It is said that bandits stole his body and buried it in Mazari Sharif. Most Shi'a now believe that Ali is buried in Najaf, Iraq.

Situated in Mazari Sharif, Afghanistan, Rawze-e-Sharif, also known as The Blue Masjid, is believed by a minority of Muslims, mainly Afghans, to be the resting place of Ali, son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be Upon him).

Stories of Imam ALI...

IMAM ALI (A.S.) AND THE CANDLE A candle burnt by his side, as he sat down meticulously recording all the revenue and the expenses of the treasury. Just then Talha and Zubair appeared.

They aspired to some positions of authority in Imam Ali's (A.S.) rule and had come to strike a deal. If Imam Ali's (A.S.) gave them a place of distinction, they would in turn pledge their full support. Imam Ali's (A.S.) knew of this. Just as they sat down, Imam Ali's (A.S.) puts out the candle and lit another one.

Talha and Zubair exchanged a glance of surprise and then one of them said:
"O Ali, we have come on some important business. But why did you extinguish the first candle?"

Imam Ali's (A.S.) replied: "That was a candle bought of Treasury funds. As long as I worked for the Treasury, I used it. Now you have come for some personal work, so I use the candle bought of my personal fund." Talha and Zubair left him without saying another word.

THE FIVE LOAVES Zarr Bin Hobeish relates this story: Two travelers sat together on the way to their destination to have a meal. One had five loaves of bread. The other had three. A third traveler was passing by and at the request of the two joined in the meal.

The travelers cut each of the loaf of bread in three equal parts. Each of the travelers ate eight broken pieces of the loaf. At the time of leaving the third traveler took out eight dirhams and gave to the first two men who had offered him the meal, and went away. On receiving the money the two travelers started quarrelling as to who should have how much of the money.

The five-loaf-man demanded five dirhams. The three-loaf-man insisted on dividing the money in two equal parts.

The dispute was brought to Imam Ali Ibn Abi Talib (the Caliph of the time in Arabia) to be decided.

Imam Ali (A.S.) requested the three-loaf-man to accept three dirhams. The man refused and said that he would take only four dirhams. At this Imam Ali (A.S.) returned, "You can have only one dirham. You had eight loaves between yourselves. Each loaf was broken in three parts. Therefore, you had 24 equal parts. Your three loaves made nine parts out of which you have eaten eight portions, leaving just one to the third traveler. Your friend had five loaves which divided into three made fifteen pieces. He ate eight pieces and gave seven pieces to the guest. As such the guest shared one part from your loaves and seven from those of your friend. So you should get one dirham and your friend should receive seven dirhams.

THE GUESTS

A father and a son were once guests of Imam Ali (A.S.). As they arrived, Imam (A.S.) received them warmly and arranged for their comfortable accommodation. In a room where they were seated, Imam (A.S.) sat opposite to them, engaging them in a friendly conversation. And then it was time for the meal. After food had been served and eaten, Qambar, Imam's servant, brought a basin and a pitcher full of water for washing the guest's hands. Imam (A.S.) took the pitcher himself and asked the father to extend his hands so that he would pour the water.

"How is it possible that my Imam serves me? It should be other way," the guest said.

Imam Ali (A.S.) said: "Here is your brother in faith, eager to serve his brother and to earn the pleasure of Allah. Why do you prevent him?"

But the guest hesitated. Finally Imam (A.S.) said: "As your Imam, I request that you allow me the honor of this service."

And when the guest complied, Imam (A.S.) said: "Let your hands be washed thoroughly. Do not hasten, thinking that I should be relieved of this duty early."

When it was the son's turn, Imam (A.S.) instructed his own son Muhammad Ibn Hanafiyyah, to hold the pitcher and wash the guest's hands. Looking at his son, Imam (A.S.) said: I washed your father's hands. My son washed your hands. If your father had not been my guest today, I would have washed your hands myself. But Allah loves to see that when a father and a son are present in a place, the father enjoys a privilege and a priority.
 

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Mausolea at Chisht Chisht-e-Sharif--Afghanistan

2. Chisht-i-Sharif a scant three kilometers away and as you approach it across a plateau you see the two famous gumbad or domes of Chisht on the opposite plateau. The town with its meandering bazaar street sits in the ravine between these plateaux. Winding down and up, you will find an avenue of pine trees leading directly to two ruined buildings now standing in the middle of an extensive graveyard.

As is so often the case, experts argue as to the purpose of these buildings. Some speak of them as mausoleums. Others see them as parts of a grand complex of buildings, a madrassa (religious school), perhaps, with its Masjid. The mutilated molded terracotta brick decoration can only speak softly of their former magnificence. The dome to the east bears a Kufic inscription in which the shafts of the script are purposefully bent in order to create a regular series of squares along the top which are filled with floral arabesques.

The inscription is bordered by a plain, yet nevertheless complicated, meandering braid. Inside, the south arch is decorated with a band of interlacing polygons; the north arch with a stylized floral band.

The western building has a more ornate and monumental façade consisting of a triple band of geometries beside the doorway; next to it there is a columned and arched recess composed of two square panels filled with interlaced polygons banded by a simple braid, and a rectangular panel containing a cursive inscription with flowers scattered on the background.

This decorative style has led some scholars to conjecture that this building may be earlier than the one to the east. Inside, there is a stucco Kufic inscription running across the tops of the pointed arches in the iwans. Here the “brambly” style found in one panel in the Masjid at Herat has been used.

Myriads of learned and pious teachers, philosophers and saints have lived and died at Chisht-i-Sharif. Many scores of others have travelled far, spreading the fame of Chisht by bearing the name Chishti. A Sufi brotherhood called Chishtiya founded by Muinuddin Mohammad Chishti (RA)who was born in Seistan in 1142 spread widely throughout India. One of its more famous members was Salim Chishti, a contemporary of the Moghul Emperor Akbar (1556–1605 A.D.). His ornate marble mausoleum in the Masjid at Fatipur Sikri, not far from Agra in India, is a popular place of pilgrimage today.

On the eastern side of the pine grove there is a large Masjid shrine built during the reign of Zahir Shah (1933–1973) to replace an older mud-brick building. It marks the resting place of Maulana Sultan Maudud Chishti who died in 1132 A.D. Each year pilgrims come to pay homage here, many of them from as far away as Pakistan and India

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Gate to the shrine of Khwaja Abdullah Ansari, Herat

3. Khwajah Abdullah Ansari
Abu Ismaïl Abdullah ibn Abi-Mansour Mohammad or Khwajah Abdullah Ansari (1006-1088)was a famous Persian poet and Sufi. He was born and died in Herat (then Khorasan, now one of the cities of Afghanistan), and that is why he is known as Pious of Herat. He is also known as "Shaikul Mashayekh" [Master of (Sufi) Masters] and his title was "Shaikhul Islam".

He was the disciple of Shaikh Abul Hassan Kharaqani. He had deep respect and faith for him, as he has said: "Abdullah was a hidden treasure, and its key was in the hands of Abul Hassan Kharaqani."

Friday Masjid in Herat

He wrote several books on Islamic mysticism and philosophy in Persian and Arabic. His most famous work is "Munajat Namah" (literally; litanies), which is considered a masterpiece in Persian literature. After his death, his students and disciples compiled what he taught about the Tafsir of holy Quran, and named it "Kashful Asrar". Kashful Asrar is the best and lengthiest Sufi Tafsir of Quran, being published several times in 10 volumes.

He practiced Hanbali sect, a school of Sunni Islam. His shrine is a respective pilgrimage for Afghans, and was built during the Timurid Dynasty.

The Khwaja 'Abd Allah Ansari shrine is a funerary compound (hazira) that houses the tomb of the Sufi mystic and saint Khwajah Abdullah Ansari, also known as the guardian pir (wise man) of Herat. After his death in 1098, his tomb became a major Sunni pilgrimage center. The shrine enclosing the tomb was commissioned by Timurid ruler Shah Rukh bin Timur (1405-1447).

Herat is a city in western Afghanistan, in the province also known as Her?t. It is situated just north of, and in the valley of, the Hari Rud, a river flowing from the mountains of central Afghanistan to the Kara-Kum Desert in Turkmenistan

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4. Khwaja Abu Nasr Parsa
Khwaja Abu Nasr Parsa (d. 1460) was a spiritual leader of the Naqshbandi order of Sufism, and a theological lecturer in Herat, Afghanistan. His tomb is believed to be located in his shrine in Balkh.

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5. Mawlana Faizani

Mawlana FaizaniMawalana Faizani was born 17 April 1923 (the twenty-first day of Ramadan of that year) in Herat, Afghanistan to a family of miagan (religious scholars descended from a great Islamic saint). Mawlana Faizani's full name is Mawlana Muhammad Atta-ullah Faizani. Faizani is an honorific bestowed upon him by the imam of the Kaaba during his Hajj. Faizani is a derivation of an Arabic word which denotes something that overflows with God's light (blessings).

Contents
1 Early education and profession
2 Spiritual retreat
3 The Mazari Sharif sermons and his first imprisonment
4 Becoming a sheikh
5 The move to Kabul
6 Final imprisonment
7 Education
8 Body of work
9 Hagiographical quotes
10 Additional References and External Links

Early education and profession
As a child, Mawlana Faizani was home-schooled in the traditional Afghani manner. Entering his teens, Mawalana Faizani studied at a High School in Herat and finally at Kabul University, where he graduated in 1941. For eight years following his graduation, he served as a High School principal in his hometown until a passion for God overcame him. At this time Mawlana Faizani left home and traveled widely throughout the Islamic world of the mid-20th century seeking knowledge of Islam and its various practices.

Spiritual retreat
As this period of traveling drew to a close, there came an intensification of his spiritual rigor and practices. He returned to Herat and secluded himself within a cave at a local Masjid. There he remained for five years performing ascetic practices including long periods of fasting, Zhikr, and fikr (also called taffakkur or deep contemplation). Taffakkur is a technique by which the practictioner "contemplates the Magnificence and Perfection of Glorious God in the creation."

The Mazari Sharif sermons and his first imprisonment
After a spiritual incident at the end of his ascetic practices, he began wandering again and wound up in Mazari Sharif. Upon arriving in the city, Mawlana Faizani was overcome by the overt materialism of the elite and their unIslamic practices, based more upon tribalism and traditional power structures than upon brotherhood and religious sentiment. In response, Mawlana Faizani began preaching, filling his sermons with the fire of moral and spiritual discontent. His critical sermons addressed the corrupt political practices that surrounded the people of Mazar-i-Sharif and he spared neither cleric, nor government official, nor the landlords who participated in the crude feudalism of their country of that time. However, as is the norm when spiritual luminaries criticize established authorities in "developing" nations, Mawlana Faizani quickly became a target for men of great power who did not want to upset the status quo.

He was arrested and put in prison.

Becoming a sheikh
After his first imprisonment, his public life consisted of good works (charity, teaching, and spreading Islam), exercising public responsibility, and suffering short prison sentences for upsetting the secular authorities. Between these incarcerations, Mawlana Faizani was able to create a library in Pul-i-Khumri (Baghlan Province). It was here that Mawlana Faizani attracted a large following of professionals (teachers and government officials), military personnel, and students. In time, his followers encompassed both Sunni and Shiite Muslims, an accomplishment not repeated by other groups in Afghanistan. To this day, the school of Islam that he initiated, the Madrassa-e Tawheed consists of both sunnis and shi'ites.

The philosophy of the Madrassa-e Tawheed was unique in Afghanistan and promulgated the fusion of modern science and religion, hence its attraction amongst the young university students of that time who required more from Islam than just interpretations and fatwas given by the established, traditional mullahs out of touch with modern developments in science, technology, and politics. Additionally, the madrassa developed an intensive program of Zhikr (remembrance of Allah) and Fikr (tafakkur), which was also well-suited to military personnel stationed in far-flung and out of the way locales (a common occurrence in Afghanistan).

The move to Kabul
In 1969, Mawlana Faizani organized the Religious Scholars' Uprising at the Pul-i Khisti Masjid in Kabul. Although the authorities thought that this protest would dissipate after a short while, the protest grew in numbers and persisted for weeks. To halt the demonstrations, the government cracked down on the restive demonstrators and imprisoned many of the protest's leaders, including Mawlana Faizani. This was to be Mawlana Faizani's fifth stint in prison and lasted a year and a half.

Upon his release, Mawlana Faizani purchased a building next to the Pul-i Khisti Masjid and started a library and book business selling only those books that he had actually read himself. At this time, Mawlana Faizani also organized and managed zikr circles and invited members of the government, military, and scholastic institutions. The intention being to transform society by first transforming the self. It was through these meetings that Mawlana Faizani eventually formed the political party Hizb-i Tawheed.

Final imprisonment

Mawlana Faizani In JailTo eliminate Mawlana Faizani's strong influence amongst the upper echelons of Afghani society (especially amongst the military elites), in 1973 President Daoud of Afghanistan and his Communist advisors falsely accused the Hizb-i Tawheed of organizing a coup d'etat. This accusation led to the final imprisonment of Mawlana Faizani and hundreds of his disciples. It was during this last imprisonment that he suffered the cruelest tortures, including having his beard plucked out one hair at a time, being continually whipped, electrocuted, and having his teeth crushed.

All through this time, Mawlana Faizani continually wrote books to his followers and would have each page secretly spirited out by his visitors. These pages would later be collected and the books published. In total, he is credited with having written 52 books on topics as diverse as taffakkur (fikr), Zikr, Fiqh, conditional and unconditional worships, etc.

Mawlana Faizani disappeared from prison in 1979 shortly after the communist Khalqis came to power. It is believed by some that he was martyred (executed) by this regime.

The continuation of his work and teachings since then, has always been strongly supported in established schools in Afghanistan and in other countries by his students, led by his son, Ustad Mazhabi Sahib. The Madrassa-e Tawheed continues to this day and has established schools in various Western nations including large numbers in Germany, France, Canada, and the United States.

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6. Baba Hatim

The mausoleum of Baba Hatim is located outside the town of Emam Sahib, near Mazari Sharif, Afghanistan. It was restored between 1978 and 1979 by the Délégation Archéologique Française.