a time when syria was the source of bad news. before the war, syria was so peaceful that it seemed it was soly created for pilgrims to visit it and seek tranquility, a place of pilgrimage for muslims and christians alike. but war killed and destroyed so much of syria that perhaps it has killed the memories of the past too. the memories held in the minds of those who had seen syria before the war. war has ended in many syrian cities and this means that pilgrims can once more travel to of syria for pilgrimage. with this hope that pilgrims will once again set foot in this land, we will visit the different pilgrimage sites in syria and see how they have survived the war.

aleppo is syria's largest and most populated city. it is also among the oldest cities in the world that has linked the east to the west for many centuries. aleppo is not only a of city for muslims, many christians also live in this city. in fact, one of aleppo's tourist attractions is the many beautiful churches in the city.

historically, aleppo has been famous for its bustling bazars, its textile industry, its seminaries and universities, and the aleppo citadel. these are all what makes aleppo important and special, and perhaps due to its importance, terrorists tried relentlessly to fully occupy the city. during the war, but they were never successful. this enduring war has left aleppo with scars. in the city, one can find prosperous and bustling neighborhoods next to neighbors that have been fully destroyed.

for muslims, especially shia muslims, aleppo is home to two important sites and it was always visited whenever muslims traveled to the city, mashad al hussain and mashad al muhsin. it is said that when the carbala caravan enter syria from iraq, it stayed near. the church for one night, holy father from the church noted that there is light shining up to the sky from imam hussain's decapitated head, that is why by paying hefty sum of money to the soldiers he managed to borrow the imam's head for night. the holy father baptizes it and places it on an altar. this altar is now a pilgrimage site. the current building was built around mashad.

sign the architecture resembles that of old churches in the area. mashad al-muhsin is also related to the events of ashura. it is said that imam hussain's wife was pregnant, but the baby was lost after the incident of ashura. the baby was named muhsin and was buried in the place that later became known as mashad al muhsin.

these two pilgrimage sites only stand 300 me. apart, but during the war in aleppo, it was a border between the terrorists and the resistance. the terrorists managed to invade and occupy mashad al-muhsin, but they were never able to set foot in mashad al hussain despite all their efforts, yet this pilgrimage site was severely. destroyed by the war,

after the war, shia muslims reconstructed the site and now both pilgrim sites are ready for pilgrims to arrive. in aleppo, there is tomb that is said to belong to zakariah, which is located in the great mosk of lepo. this mosk was originally constructed in the first century of the islamic calendar.

during the war, the great mosque of aleppo was occupied by terrorist forces and that is how this historic monument was transformed into this ruin. with the liberation of aleppo. the restoration of the great moscow depot started. this is why all the original pieces of stone were carefully recovered and meticulously recorded so that they can be put in place during the restoration project. currently this mosk is not open to visitors or pilgrims, but after its restoration, this

mosk and the tomb will certainly be a destination for pilgrims visiting alepo. to see the rest of syria's pilgrimage. one must travel from aleppo towards damascus. the first place you will come across is adra. the tomb of hujr ibn adi is located in adra. hujr was close companion of prophet muhammad and imam ali. he never agreed to swear allegiance to mavier and continuously disclosed his

corruption, and that is why moavier ordered him to be killed. when huj was apprehended, he was given the chance to use profanity against imam ali in order. to live, but he did not agree along with his son and number of his companions were martered in the 51st year of the islamic calendar. august 2013, terrorists occupied the region and entered the mosk where the tomb of huj was located. they destroyed the building and desecrated the grave and claimed to have removed the corps from its original resting place. but after the liberation of adra, it became evident that the terroris had only dug

less than meter deep, and since the body was buried much deeper, the terrorists never actually managed to reach it. this site was later restored by iraqi defenders of the shrine and other shia muslims. this site is ready for pilgrims to visit it. on the outskirts of damascus lies the mask of the prophet abel, it is located 45 km from the capital city of syria, this... site has always added pilgrims to syria.

after visiting adra and the tomb of huj, the caravans of pilgrims reached damascus. historians claim the city of damascus dates back to 3000 bc. it is the oldest city in the world that still stands and people are still living in it. damascus is just as sacred to christians and jews as it is to muslims. but for shia muslims, damascus is home to few sacred sites and one of them is the babil

saghhir cemetery. it is a large cemetery in the center of damascus that is the burial site for number of the prophets companions and children of the 12 imams. the most important of which is the tomb of um. these two tombs are located in one chamber and pilgrims can easily visit both.

it is believed that babel sakir cemetery is also the burial grounds of abdullah, the son of imam sadiq fatima, one of imam hussain's. daughters and abdullah, the son of imam sajad. the graves of nine of the prophet companions are also located in this cemetery, the most notable of which is balal, the first muazin of islam. another companion of the prophet is abdullah jafar tayar, the husband of lady zainab, his two. is adjacent to that of according to some historical documents,

three of the prophets wise um salame, um habib and hafsa are also buried in the cemetery. faizer and asma hazrat zenab's are also buried here too, next to barbier cemetery is holy place which is believed to be the burial site for the heads of 16 martures of carabala, they belong to hazard. and his brothers, ali akbar, imam hussain's son, abdullah and qasim, the sons

of imam hassan, habib ibn mazoher and hur are among the 16 heads that have been buried here, this area is separated from the cemetery, and inside the shrine there are 16 turbons that signif the 16 heads. there are other historical narratives that say that there are only three heads belonging to hazard.

babel sagir cemetery was threatened many times by the terrorists, but with the resistance of the people and the army, it was never occupied. this cemetery remains as one the major pilgrim sites of damascus. the uma yod mosk, also known as the great mosk of damascus, is one of the main tourist attractions of mass. parts of this mask date back 1,400 years. the mosk was built on the site of a christian basilica, which was the burial ground of john the baptist. with the construction of the mosk, the burial site of john the baptist was included inside the

building and shia muslims, sunni muslims and christian pilgrims visited. in the umai yodmosk there are four rectangular halls, one them is dedicated to imam ali, but a massias, it is known as raas al hussain. when the carabala caravan reached damascus with all of the decapitated heads of the martters and family of the marters as captives, they entered the umayad mosk where yazid was. it is said the holy head of imam hussain was placed where stands today, known as. next is a prayer rug and mehrab incased in a glass cubicle which marks the place where ali ibn hussain abidin used to pray while imprisoned

in the castle after the battle of carbala. this mosque is found a short distance from the omiyard mosk and contains the grave of r, the young daughter of imam hussain after enduring the battle of carbala and the torturous journey to damascus that followed it, raghaya reached the omayard mosk. as she

could not bear any longer, one night the orphand three-year-old dreamed of her father. and woke up and cried relentlessly, she cried so hard that the soldiers informed yazid, he ordered the guards to show her the decapitated head of her father, imam to make her quiet, and yazid was right, the three-year-old r was silenced forever. this tragic and moving incident has captivated the hearts of not just sheia pilgrims, but sunnis and christians alike.

from the very first days of war on syria, the occupation of damascus was the terrorist main agenda, that is why many of the suburbs on the outskirts of the city were occupied or were ceaselessly targeted by the terrorist rockets.

one of these suburbs was daraaya, which the terrorists managed to occupy. this suburb was considered as very strategic base for them, as it was located only 5 km. from damascus, it took five years of war to liberate daraya, it is not too hard to guess what the terrorists did to haz sakina's shrine while they occupied the area. this is what has become of the shrine of sakina, the daughter of imam ali. it was

completely destroyed when daraya was occupied by the terroris. the occupation has raised daraya to the ground, the town is in ruins and the syrian army has not yet allowed it to be open to the public to enter and devoted shias are awaiting the time when the syrian government reopens the gates of daraya and they can rebuild the shrine.

for sure, the main reason pilgrims travel to syria is to visit the shrine of haja to zainab. the terrorists almost reached it, they only had 100 meters to go, but they never managed to occupy it because of the resistance forces blocked them. the resistance forces included syrian sunni muslims. and shia muslims from syria, lebanon, pakistan, afghanistan, iran and iraq. the iraqi resistance forces cannot bear to see the shrine empty of pilgrims, so they

brought in their family members from iraq for pilgrimage during those difficult days. and thus, the shrine of hazrat zainab became the central hub for the resistance forces and the value of the resistance in defending the shrine, inspired resistance forces across syria. now pilgrims visit the shrine of hazrat zainab in absolute safety and security.

خودمون زنده هستیم برادرامونو ببینیم نه پادر پدرمو دیدم نه خواهرامو دیدم چندین ساله می گذره ولی ما به هیچ کدوم از خواسته هامون نخزیدیم ما خانواده ها هیچ کدوم سیاسی نیستیم.

وابسته به هیچ حزبی نیستیم. ما فقط خانواده ایم. یک پرندهی که تو قفسه اگر در قفسه هم باز کنیا جرات نمی کنه بیاد بیرون.

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