Ziyarah (Visitation Prayer)

Ziyarah (Arabic: زيارة) means "visitation" and in Shia Islam refers to the ritual visitation prayer recited at the graves or shrines of the Prophet Muhammad, the twelve Imams, and other holy persons. Ziyarah can also be performed from a distance (ziyarat min ba'id) by turning toward the relevant shrine.

The Quranic and hadith basis for ziyarah includes the Prophet's encouragement to visit graves: "Visit the graves, for they remind you of the hereafter" (narrated in both Sunni and Shia collections). In Shia Islam, the Imams expanded this practice to specific visitation prayers with detailed texts narrated from them. Imam al-Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: "The one who visits my grandfather Husayn (peace be upon him), it is as if he has visited Allah on His Throne" (Kamil al-Ziyarat by Ibn Qulawayh).

The most important ziyarat texts in Shia Islam include: Ziyarat Ashura (to Imam Husayn), Ziyarat Aminallah (to Imam Ali), Ziyarat al-Jami'ah al-Kabirah (to all the Imams), Ziyarat Warith (to Imam Husayn), and specific ziyarat for each of the twelve Imams. These texts are collected in Mafatih al-Jinan and other prayer books.

Millions of Shia Muslims travel annually to the shrines in Karbala, Najaf, Mashhad, Samarra, and Kadhimiyyah to perform ziyarah. The largest Shia pilgrimage is Arba'een (the 40th day after Imam Husayn's martyrdom), when up to 20-25 million people walk to Karbala. For Shia Muslims who cannot travel physically, it is possible to perform ziyarah from a distance by reciting the relevant texts from Mafatih al-Jinan.