But as to the importance attached in the early times to the visit to this tomb...

But as to the importance attached in the early times to the visit to this tomb, the only information available is on the authority of traditions that have been attributed to the Eighth and Tenth Imams. These traditions are answers they are said to have given when they were asked by their followers concerning the merit of pilgrimage to Kadhmayn.

It is related that the Imam Ali Reza, whose life in Baghdad was during the caliphate of Haroon al-Rashid, told his Shia followers to say their prayers of salutation to his father, the Imam Musa Al-Kadhim, “Outside the walls of the Shrine, or in the nearby mosques,” if the Sunni authority and prejudice in Baghdad was too great for them to do so at the tomb itself.

From this we infer that a building of some sort was recognised at that early date as marking the tomb of the Imam Musa and that it was surrounded by a wall. Further statements are said to have been made a few years later by the Imam Ali Naqi, whose period in the Imamat began during the later part of the Caliphate of Mu'tasim, and who enjoyed greater indulgence that was shown to the Shias until the period of reaction against them and the Mu'tazalites under the Caliph Mutawakkil.

The following particular instructions for visiting this Shrine have been given by Majlisi. When you wish to visit the tomb of Musa ibn Jafar and the tomb of Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Musa, first you must bathe and make yourself clean, then anoint yourself with perfume and put on two clean garments, after which you are to say at the tomb of the Imam Musa: - Peace be upon thee, O Friend of God! Peace be upon thee, O Proof of God! Peace be upon thee, O Light of God!

O Light in the dark place of the earth! Peace be upon him whom God advances in thy regard, Behold I come as a pilgrim, who acknowledges your right, Who hates your enemies and befriends your friends, So intercede for me therefore with your Lord.