Navroz Mubarak! Nourouz Norouz Nawroz - Eid Mubarak! Quick links
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Navroz Mubarak! Eid Mubarak! There is every reason to rejoice! We have just completed the glorious Golden Jubilee of our beloved Mowlana Hazar Imam, Mashallah!
Navroz page from 1998 - Significance & History of Navroz, etc.
Birth of the Imam
The famous poet, Ibn Hani (d. 362/973) has composed many verses glorifying Imam al-Muizz. As we celebrate Navroz, this year I would like to dedicate the following verses to Mowlana Hazar Imam:
- Source of above - "Diwan", Cairo, 1271 A.H.
"You are the Spirit because
your image is shaped from
the spiritual world of your Lord
and supported by knowledge."I swear that if the world did
not call you a caliph,
they would certainly have
called you a second Messiah."
- Proof of God"He is the intercessor for
the community which follows him,
just as his forefathers
were for their forefathers."He is the trusted of God
among His servants on earth,
if at all the trusted can
be counted in His country."
- Heaven on Earth
Navroz has been celebrated over the centuries in Persia and other parts of the world on the first day of Spring which coincides with the spring equinox. Navroz means new day and the celebration is not only for the physical signs of rebirth upon the arrival of spring after the long winter months but also a spiritual renewal is celebrated. Families and Jamat get together to make new resolutions for the coming year as reminders abound to seek to improve the material and spiritual life of every individual.
In the Fatimid era, Navroz was celebrated by the Imams and later in history when the Imams lived in Iran, this holiday became an important Ismaili holiday.
"Morale and enthusiasm were kept up by the observance of various festivals of general Islamic nature; particularly those of Shia and Ismaili. Fridays and the two Idd days were the days of festivity. Moreover, the Shia festival of Idd-e-Ghadeer al-Khumm and the 10th of Muharram were also observed.Birthdays of the Ahl-e-Bayt (the Prophet's family) and the Imams and certain important dates of the year were celebrated. Imam took part in the celebrations of the festivals. Local festivals of secular origin, like the "Flooding of the Nile" and "Navroz" (beginning of spring) were also encouraged by the Imam. Imam al-Muiz would hold huge receptions at his palace; processions were taken through the town and the whole town was illuminated". - From History of the Imams
On the day of Navroz (also pronounced Norouz), Persians prepare and set a special spread known as the Haft-Sinn - the seven S's. Seven is considered a lucky number and the spread contains seven items which begin with the letter S in farsi. Today the seven S's included are: Sabzeh (home grown sprouts); Samanou (wheat germ); Sib (apples); Sonbol (hyacinth); Senjed (jujube fruit); Seer (garlic); Somagh (sumac). In addition to the seven S's, each Iranian family according to their religious belief i.e. Muslims place the Quran, rosewater, painted eggs. Also included are gold coins (Sikkeh), goldfish in water, a mirror, pomegrantes, and candles. And each item symbolizes something, for example the sprouts and samanou represent the rebirth of spring; apples and jujube represent beauty and birth; rosewater and hyacinth bring sweetness; goldfish represents life; garlic and sumac represent health; the coins are believed to bring prosperity; and the mirror and candles represent light and goodness.
Since this is an important year for us, I would like to share Mowlana Hazar Imam's vision for us:
"I hope that in the years ahead, we shall see Islamic cities representing to the world all that the city of God and man can be. Cities of which all Muslims can be proud, where our magnificent heritage and our firm place in this new age are manifest."As we work towards that vision of the future, we will remember the Sura of Light from the Quran. It tells us that the oil of the blessed olive tree lights the lamp of understanding, a light that belongs neither to East nor West. We are to give this light to all. In that spirit, all that we learn will belong to the world and that too is part of the vision I share with you." - New York, September 1979.
Time and again we have been reminded that the material life is transient and the spiritual life is ever-lasting. In today's fast-paced society, it is too easy to forget the spiritual needs of the soul. Practicing our faith regularly and taking the time to reflect brings peace to an otherwise racy life. In Islam we are also reminded that pursuit of material belongings has to be in moderation and anything possessed in excess has to be shared for the good of the Ummah.
Balancing Din and Duniya and living within the ethics of the faith should be foremost in our minds as we enter the the new year and try to fulfil our Imam's vision for us."Islam, as even non-Muslims have observed, is a way of life. This means that every aspect of the individual's daily existence is guided by Islam: his family relations, his business relations, his education, his health, the means and manner by which he gains his livelihood, his philanthropy, what he sees and hears around him, what he reads, the way he regulates his time, the buildings in which he lives, learns and earns." - Seerat Conference Speech by Mowlana Hazar Imam
I leave with you the wise thoughts from Mowlana Hazar Imam who is working so hard for us and Inshallah, we should work hard this year and every year -
"It would be dramatic if those pillars of the Islamic way of life, social justice, equality, humility and generosity, enjoined upon us all, were to lose their force or wide application in our young society. It must never be said generations hence that in our greed for the material goods of the rich West we have forsaken our responsibilities to the poor, to the orphans, to the traveler, to the single woman."The day we no longer know how, nor have the time nor the faith, to bow in prayer to Allah because the human soul that He has told us is eternal, is no longer of sufficient importance to us to be worthy of an hour of our daily working, profit seeking time, will be a sunless day of despair." - Convocation address at Peshawar University
