Najaf 2015

People find it strange that I came all the way to Najaf to find peace. But no one understands peace till they've been to Najaf. 

We started the day with a 6am departure from Karbala. When I say heart wrenching, I mean soul crushing departure. As you may be aware I'm a little bit obsessed about stories, so I'm going to tell you how this worked. We started by arriving at Masjide Kufa, so baring in mind this is where several ambiya and aimah have prayed and have maqams, including the maqam of Nah (a personal favourite- Prophet and Maqam). So we arrive in dazed sleepy state. We pray all salaam first. It's super hot, yes it's Iraq and its supposed to be hot, but this dessert heat is Makkah all over again! half way through the amaal I casually, as casually as I do anything, pull out a bar of chocolate and pass it around the group. It makes laugh at how in london I can pray without sustenance, but here no matter how much I eat, the emergency stash is required. 

Walking in history, knowing each story, smiling at the past, tears and the salat ul jamaat. So it's announced, this is one of the four sacred masjids of Islam so you can pray full salaa. Makes me chuckle when we're told its recommended to pray full so just do it. It's always nice to have a choice. Prayed full before you judge me. 

So the tears in Masjide Kufa are based on the 19th Ramadhan when my dear Imam is struck in sajda, he is then taken to his house a short walk away from the Masjid. He moves from this world to the next at home. His body is taken. By his two sons and two angels direct them to Najaf, the site here Prophet Nuh - the Prophet with the ark, the one who tell us he had the hardest task of convincing the most difficult people for 900 years, and the father of humanity, Prophet Adam is buried. 

We get to Najaf, and crash, literally crash! We're knocked out from landIng at 3pm till 8pm. Yes even me, I sleep in the day! We awake and here the day I've waited for for months and years. We go to see my beloved Imam. I'm talking the father of 11 imams. The man that was mushkil kusha to so many. There comes a point that you realise the Wah Wah majlis is deserving, yet not enough. If free Muhammed there's a perfect human, it's Ali! 

I arrived at my spot, the golden face. The golden wall and me. I cried like a child in grief. I was in pain. Physical pain where the tears wouldn't stop. The pain wouldn't go. Every part of my soul ached, this is the sight that my soul has shown me at each moment, every pain, every disappointment, every cry, ever earth shattered taunt. This was it. I just stared while my heart poured love through my eyes in a way where it wouldn't stop. I've missed Najaf. The peace the serenity, the calm, the pinnacle, the perfection. That's where I am today and where I wish to stay for all eternity. I've been many places, too many cities, too many homes, nothing compares to Najaf. This is my home.