Inside the shrine I saw engravings and decorations that I have never seen before...

Inside the shrine I saw engravings and decorations that I have never seen before, and I was surprised by them and felt as if I was in an unknown and unfamiliar world. From time to time I looked with disgust at those people who were going around the grave, crying and kissing its bars and corners, while others were praying near the grave.

At that moment a tradition of the (s.a.w.) came to my mind, which states: "Allah cursed the Jews and Christians for making mosques of the graves of their saints." I walked away from my friend, who, as soon as he entered, started crying, and left him to do his prayers. I approached the plaque which was written especially for the visitors and read it but could not understand most of it because it contained strange names that I did not know.

I went to a corner and read the Opening Surah of the Qur'an (al-Fatiha) and asked Allah for mercy on the person who is inside the grave saying: "O Allah if this dead person is a Muslim then have mercy on him for You know him better than I do." My friend came near me and whispered in my ears, "If you want anything you better ask Allah in this place because we call it the gate of requests." I did not pay much attention to what he said.

God forgive me, rather, I was looking at the old men with black or white turbans on their heads and the signs of prostration on their foreheads, with their long perfumed beards, which added to their dignity alongside their awesome looks. I noticed that as soon as one of them entered the shrine, he started crying, and I asked myself, "Is it possible that all these tears are false?

Is it possible that all these old people are wrong?” I came out perplexed and astonished about what I had seen, while my friend walked backwards, as a sign of respect, so that he did not turn his back to the shrine. I asked him, "Whose shrine is that?" He said, "Imam Musa al-Kazim." I asked, "Who is Musa al-Kazim?" He said, "Praise Allah!

You, our brothers, of the Sunni sect ignored the essence and kept the shell.” I answered him angrily, "What do you mean we ignored the essence and kept the shell?" He calmed me down and said, "My brother, since you came to Iraq you never stopped talking about Abdul Qadir al-Jilani, but who is Abdul Qadir al-Jilani, and why should he attract all your attention?" I immediately replied proudly, "He is one of the descendants of the Prophet.