Celebration of Imam Ali's Birthday at the Sufi Khanaqah

So tonight was the birthday celebration of Imam Ali, all of Shiraz was celebrating, and lots of mosques and husayniyas (a hall for prayers and religious celebration, but not a mosque) have special celebrations where they read praise poetry in honor of Imam Ali. After I ran into my new friend the other day in old Shiraz and visited the khanaqah with her, she told me about tonight's ceremony and invited me to go with her. So I made my way to Shah Cheragh by bus, it was incredibly crowded, and outside of Masjid-e Naw (New Mosque), which is the biggest mosque in Shiraz reserved for Friday prayers, hundreds of men and women were lined up, sleeping bags and clothing in hand as they were waiting to start their i'tikaf, or spiritual retreat, for three days in the middle of Rajab at the mosque. About 15 mosques in Shiraz are open for i'tikaf, and mainly young men and women, who have more time on their hands, attend this event.

I finally managed to get to Shah Cheragh and the Khanaqah is only a five minute walk from there in a little side alley. I met my friend and her friend at the beginning of the alley, my friend, F. is a PhD student in irfan, or Islamic mysticism, at Tehran University and her friend, H. is also in the same program in Tehran. But they both live in Shiraz and work on their dissertations here. Anyway, we made our way to the khanaqah, where lots of men and women were milling about in the courtyard. Presumably the high-ranking members of the order, all men, were dressed in their finest, brown wool robes, at the entrance to the prayer hall. The women were seated in what is usually the library and there were probably a few hundred ladies sitting at the study tables and on carpets around the walls. First we prayed Maghrib, and then they prayed 'Isha (I don't pray 'Isha in congregation in Iran since Shi'is pray Zhuhr and Asr together and Maghrib and Isha together, whereas Sunnis must pray all of the prayers separately).

In the library was a small TV screen that showed what was going on in the mens section...first a man with a lovely voice read some verses from the Qur'an, and then several other men read praise poetry of Imam Ali in Persian, in that signature melancholic and beautiful Iranian tune. Some women sat and spoke, while others closed their eyes and concentrated on the meaning of the poetry. The women present were diverse, some were from obviously conservative backgrounds, wearing black chadors and modest clothes, while other women were wearing the latest fashion, with most of their hair sticking out of their fashionable silk scarves. Sufis are tolerant and in Iran they attract young people who might otherwise discard their practice and beliefs of Islam based on their disgust with the orthodox, forceful image of Islam pushed by the current regime.

After about two hours, the ceremony was other and the women filed upstairs for a meal full of food full of zikr and blessings/barakah. The entire khanaqah was incredibly clean and tidy and they served every individual containers containing sweet rice, lentils and meat, and zucchini. I picked out the meat (since I am vegetarian) and enjoyed the food immensely, and at the end they handed out apples. Everything was very well-organized, clean and respectable, the khanaqah really shows the positive and beautiful side of Islam and is a good example to follow.