In Iran, as Shia Muslims, we celebrate Mother's Day on the birth anniversary of our Lady Fatima Zahra, the beloved daughter of our Prophet and the wife of our first Imam. And more or less like here, stores are the happiest with this celebration as people go on shopping sprees to buy gifts for their mother, wife, grandmother, mother-in-law or other loved ones who are somehow in a maternal role. And I admit that even as an anti-consumerist person, who believes that showing your love should not be limited to buying stuff, I wouldn't completely stay away from the material side of this certain day when I was in Iran.
There's a difference however between Mother's Day here and in Iran. Here in the US (and most western countries), there is a service known as collect call; you call somebody and that person is charged for your call. Although Father's Day ranks first all over the year when it comes to collect calls traffic, Mother's Day is not so much lagging behind. Fortunately, we don't have such an unsavory way of showing our affection in Iran (at least up until now). Read more about collect call and Father's (or Mother's) Day here.
However, there is a spiritual aura to this blessed day. More than giving gifts to our mother in blood, we ask our great mother in spirit for gifts. For us Muslims, it's Fatima Zahra (and for a Christian it would be Mary). And we visit religious places and pray to God for our mother. There are other rituals recommended for this day, like fasting, helping the poor and needy (following in the very footsteps of our Lady) and some special prayers.
It's the third year in a row that I'm away from my mother and religious places in Iran. In 2006, after my unfair rejection in Dubai, I applied for visa again in Nicosia, Cyprus. And my visa interview was right the day after Mother's Day. So, I thought I'd better find a religious place to pray for my mother, myself and also for my visa interview. And trivially, the religious places available to me in Nicosia were churches. I've written about it in more detail in a previous post on a day of worship with African Americans.
And it turned out that my prayers to God and asking for a special gift (visa in this case) from our Lady Fatima Zahra and the other great Lady that we Muslims believe in, Mary, was answered and I succeeded with the lengthy extensive visa interview the following day. And now, I'm here. The sad thing is, although my mother is very happy with my academic progress, she badly misses me (as her only son). And I'm stranded here on a single-entry visa, unable to go back home for the duration of my study in the US.
On this blessed day, I pray to God for my parents' health and patience so that I could go through the next stages of my academic endeavor. And I ask our Lady Fatima Zahra (who granted me my special gift in 2006) for the next gift on my wish list.
There's a difference however between Mother's Day here and in Iran. Here in the US (and most western countries), there is a service known as collect call; you call somebody and that person is charged for your call. Although Father's Day ranks first all over the year when it comes to collect calls traffic, Mother's Day is not so much lagging behind. Fortunately, we don't have such an unsavory way of showing our affection in Iran (at least up until now). Read more about collect call and Father's (or Mother's) Day here.
However, there is a spiritual aura to this blessed day. More than giving gifts to our mother in blood, we ask our great mother in spirit for gifts. For us Muslims, it's Fatima Zahra (and for a Christian it would be Mary). And we visit religious places and pray to God for our mother. There are other rituals recommended for this day, like fasting, helping the poor and needy (following in the very footsteps of our Lady) and some special prayers.
It's the third year in a row that I'm away from my mother and religious places in Iran. In 2006, after my unfair rejection in Dubai, I applied for visa again in Nicosia, Cyprus. And my visa interview was right the day after Mother's Day. So, I thought I'd better find a religious place to pray for my mother, myself and also for my visa interview. And trivially, the religious places available to me in Nicosia were churches. I've written about it in more detail in a previous post on a day of worship with African Americans.
And it turned out that my prayers to God and asking for a special gift (visa in this case) from our Lady Fatima Zahra and the other great Lady that we Muslims believe in, Mary, was answered and I succeeded with the lengthy extensive visa interview the following day. And now, I'm here. The sad thing is, although my mother is very happy with my academic progress, she badly misses me (as her only son). And I'm stranded here on a single-entry visa, unable to go back home for the duration of my study in the US.
On this blessed day, I pray to God for my parents' health and patience so that I could go through the next stages of my academic endeavor. And I ask our Lady Fatima Zahra (who granted me my special gift in 2006) for the next gift on my wish list.
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