ziyar

Ziyarat (also transliterated as ziyārāt, ziyarah, or ziyarat) is the act of visiting a sacred site or a person, especially within Islamic cultures. The word derives from the Arabic ziyārah, from the verb zāra, meaning to visit. In practice, it refers to a pilgrimage or a visit to places regarded as spiritually significant, including the tombs of prophets, saints, or Imams, as well as mosques and maqams associated with holy figures.

In Islam, ziyarat is performed for a variety of reasons: to seek spiritual merit, to pay respects, or to seek blessings in some traditions. The practice is especially prominent in Shia Islam, where pilgrimages to shrines of the Imams in Karbala and Najaf (Iraq), or Qom and Mashhad (Iran), are common. Numerous ziyarat texts accompany visits to shrines and may be recited as part of the rite. Ziyarat to Prophet Muhammad’s tomb in Medina is also observed among many Muslims, though its status and recommended form vary by tradition.

Ziyarat differs from Hajj and Umrah in that it is not tied to a specific religious season and can be performed individually or as part of a broader pilgrimage circuit. It also has cultural and social dimensions in many Muslim-majority societies, including commemorations, festivals, and charitable activities around shrine sites. The term appears in several languages, with transliterations including ziyarat, ziyārāt, and ziyarat, and is widely used in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Urdu, and other Muslim-majority regions. In some contexts, a shorter form or derivative like “ziyar” may appear in titles, names, or colloquial usage.