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Asalaamualaikum,
Here in Northern Virginia, USA, Tuesday, November 29th was the first day of Muharram and I ended up going to this Shia masjid a little far from where I live. I was there again tonight, perhaps I love to be in mosques full of people, so I thought I would share my experience here. I will be going there, as many times possible, until Ashura, but I wanted to give you all a preview. I will add to this topic as I learn more things.

With all due respect to our brother who has made the highest contribution to the topic "Various Scandalous Beliefs of Twelver Shias," or something to that effect, I have learned that the Shia stand-point is not as radical as the topic portrays it to be. It was a relief to hear praise for Allah (swt) and Qur'an. Although there are many narrations, supported by Shia scholars, found online which claim that Shia scholars of the past doubted the authenticity of the Qur'an, not once did anyone say anything which even remotely undermined the authenticity of the Qur'an. The speaker kept emphasizing on the Qur'an and daily recitation and reflection and that the Qur'an is a "light." And the mention of Imams (ra) nearly always came after Allah (swt) and Rasulullah (saw).

But, what I did notice was the lax when it came to reciting the Qur'an. The masjid is highly influenced by Iranians and Afghans so for someone who speaks Farsi/Dari, I could hear the strong Farsi accent when they recite, even the imam of the masjid. Today, they had this sister recite from Surah Fajr and while many were saying "mashAllah," I was pinching myself to see if it was for real. I commend her for her effort, I cannot read Arabic fluently, but the sister's voice was harsh on my ears and her Farsi accent was coming forth a lot more than I thought it would since she is a prominent student of the Qur'an classes there.

The other thing that offended me on the very first day was the fact that the speaker mentioned how those gathered there are gathered for Imam Hussain (ra). I was there with the intention that I am there for Allah's (swt) sake and to learn. Nevertheless, the speaker added that any gathering at the mosque is a gathering visited by angels. He mentioned that we were amongst angels and we have that belief as well, but as soon as he was done, right before they started matam, which I did not participate in, the imam of the masjid said, "you all are here and Imam Hussain (ra) sends peace upon you all.........Bibi Fatima (ra) is at the door of this masjid greeting you all and sending peace upon you." I wanted to say, "with all due respect imam, there is another Shia mosque 2 miles away from my home. Is Bibi Fatima (ra) there too? And if yes, then is she also at the door of the mosque in Maryland? What about the other Shia mosques around the US and the world?" I just kept my peace.

Also, today the speaker was talking about sacrifice. He said that when Sayidina Ibrahim (as) was asked to sacrifice Sayidina Ismail (as), he nearly did so and was re-united with his son. When the mother of Sayidina Musa (as) was asked to set him afloat on the river, she sacrificed her love for him and did so. And later she was re-united with her son. Similarly, he said that when Imam Hussain (ra) sacrificed his life for us (very Christian-like), he was re-united with us because he (Hussain) now resides in our hearts. To draw parallels between Imam Hussain (ra) and prominent Prophets got me offended. And there is no connection or similarity between the first two cases and the latter case. There were also slogans like, "Hussain (ra) is love." Very Christianistic!

And then the lights tonight were dimmed so that they could cry properly. Then the speaker spoke of a John, a Christian slave of Abu Dhar (ra) and later of Ahlul-Bait (ra), who accompanied Imam Hussain (ra) to the battleground of Karbala. And this John was supposedly 90 years old and never accepted Islam. But he was worthy of mention and gained the praise of Shias. Would they spare half of that praise for Abu Bakr, Umar or Uthman (ra)? Sad! Can anyone confirm the existence, or non-existence, of this Christian slave?

The imam of the masjid, at one point, mentioned Yazeed and sent la'anat, the only time he sent la'anat on anyone, and said, "Yazeed the son of Muawiyah the son of Abu Sufiyan" and tacked on the la'anat at the end of that sentence. I can understand them sending la'anat on Yazeed, even Muawiyah, but why Abu Sufiyan (ra)?

Lastly, their manners are truly worth mentioning. When I got there, I had to pray Isha. They had already prayed so I found two Shia brothers praying independent of each other so I stood next to them to pray. Others, who were done, were walking around and greeting each other. There were people walking in front of us, behind us and all over the place where we were making sujood on. After they started matam and beating their chests, I prayed nafil and put my jacket in front of me in case someone had to walk in front of me. Their kids were running around, stepping on my jacket and even running over the area between me and my jacket. Not once did any one say, "HEY, don't you see him praying?" Heck, when I was praying Isha, there were chairs in front of me and brothers were sitting on them, facing me, with their backs facing the qiblah, like nothing was happening. And I was technically making sujood three feet away from their feet.

And the hymns they were singing were really annoying. In Farsi, they were saying, "ya Hussain (ra), you have guests over to visit you........" blah blah blah......made my ears hurt, couldn't bear them, so I left.

This is my first time taking part in Muharram rituals of the Shias and it has been an eye-opening experience. I enjoy the lectures, as long as they are not overly exaggerated, but when it comes time for chest slapping, I look for the exit.