# Persian: free distribution of drinks, aash, bread etc. in pursuit of a religious merit



## licinio

I need to know how you call in Farsi the free distribution of drinks, aash, bread etc. in persuit of a religious merit. Thank you.


----------



## turkcurious

> I need to know how you call in Farsi the free distribution of drinks, aash, bread etc. in pursuit of a religious merit. Thank you.


Hello licino,
Aashe nazri. 
Also : salavati. (guide to pronunciation : first and second  "a" as in mad/ bad and third "a" as in car, march).
The latter requires that the person who eats(drinks) it, should utter "Salavat" : the phrase "peace be upon Mohammad &his descendants" in Arabic in the intention that the reward of this goes to the distributor. i.e. instead of paying money, you say this prayer and the reward of this prayer is intended at the distributor(owner).

PS. Nazri is usually given(distributed) after you make a vow of some thing( achievemnt, success). When it is fulfilled, i.e when your vow is answered by God, you distribute or do what you had first promised God.
TC


----------



## cherine

Hello Turkcurious,
I'm not sure I understood the first part of your post, but the word nazri sounds familiar (it's نذر in Arabic).

Can ًصدقة ("sadaqa" in Arabic. Sorry, I don't know how it is called in Persian) be also the word for what Licinio is asking about?


----------



## licinio

Thanks a lot. In fact the word I was after was salavati (صلاواتي؟). 
I expect the answer in Arabic should be 
سلام على محمد وآل محمد


----------



## panjabigator

I have heard something like this used during Muharram - the response was much longer however.


----------



## arsham

The correct words for free distribution of food for a vow are nazri نذری and salavaati صلواتی as turkcurious explained. صدقه sadaqe refers to alms that is anything that is given as charity.


----------



## cherine

Thanks, Arsham.

Is there a difference, in meaning or usage, between nazri and salavaati?
And what does it have to do with saying سلام على محمد وعلى آل محمد or any other sayings? I mean, is this saying a ritual in itself (if I may call it a ritual)? or it's just a saying accompanying the act of distributing the nazri/salavaati?

Also are nazri and salavaati singular or plural?


----------



## Faylasoof

panjabigator said:


> I have heard something like this used during Muharram - the response was much longer however.


 This is amongst Urduphones I presume? Not surprised!  Actually, we too use these words but differently; both in dropping the ىfrom  صلواتیand  نذری, and also in what exactly they mean for us. I’ll have more time later to explain all this – under Urdu heading of course! 
 


cherine said:


> Is there a difference, in meaning or usage, between nazri and salavaati?


 Let’s wait for the native speakers to reply, but I have a feeling that نذری also means  مجّانی = free. Though I assume, as used in Persian, it perhaps still has a religious connotation. 
 


> And what does it have to do with saying





> سلامعلىمحمدوعلىآلمحمد





> or any other sayings? I mean, is this saying a ritual in itself (if I may call it a ritual)? or it's just a saying accompanying the act of distributing the nazri/salavaati?


 Both in Iran and the Indo-Pak subcontinent one hears the <salawaat> a lot! So in a sense you could be right to say that it is almost like a ritual but we are meant to say this with feeling (!) and it can be said any time you mention our Prophet, whether it is with or without mentioning his family and progeny. In fact it is incumbent on us to recite the FULL صلوات/  درود  :

 اللّهم صلّي على محمد و على آل  محمد كما صلّيت على إبراهيم  و على آل إبراهيم إنك مجيد حميد​ 
 However, mostly the part in blue is used for brevity. 
 


> Also are nazri and salavaati singular or plural?


 The plural of  نذر is نذور \ نذورات  but I think it sounds too “bookish” and I’ve heard the Persian pluralisation, نذرھا, in speech.


----------



## cherine

Thanks for your answer, Faylasoof.

Regarding the saying اللهم صلِّ على محمد وعلى آل محمد ... I know it, of course. But my question was about the relation between the saying and the act of distributing food and beverage. Who says it (the giver/donor or the taker?) why? what does the act of giving has to do with الصلاة والتسليم على النبي ?


----------



## turkcurious

cherine said:


> Who says it (the giver/donor or the taker?) why? what does the act of giving has to do with الصلاة والتسليم على النبي ?


You well know that Muslims believe that reading/saying some verses like verses of Holy Quran or verses like Salavaat is rewardable. As you know saying this phrase entitles you to some reward by God in the next world. 
In Iranian culture, when somebody dies, his/her family or relatives decide to please the soul of the dead by distributing meal/date, etc either in the cemetery or in the street (usually on Thursday evenings). So they start to give out food or anything else on the condition that the user grants/endows one Salavaat to the dead. The people who use the food pay no money but instead they recite Salavaat. The reward of this ( salavaat) reciting is then redirected to the soul of that dead not to the reciter. It is believed that this will clear the sins and will put God's mercy on the dead.
PS. The first sura of Holy Quran (al- fatehah) can also be recited plus another short sura.
TC​


----------



## arsham

I think turkcurious' explanation of صلواتی is thorough and Fayla provided the right utterance (the blue part) for صلوات , which is used with the verb فرستادن to send. As for nazr, it has a more general meaning, it does not solely refer to food like nazri, but to anything offered for a vow. For example it could be a certain amount of money one would offer to one of the holy shrines (e.g. Imam Reza shrine, Imam Hosein shrine, Imam Ali shrine or other minor shrines in Iran, Iraq or Syria). In Iran, nazri still has a religious connotation, as I said, it refers to food offered as nazr!


----------



## turkcurious

panjabigator said:


> I have heard something like this used during Muharram - the response was much longer however.


I am having a hard time thinking what this phrase can be. . panjabigator, are you sure this is peculiar to Muharram? Can you mention some words of it at least or what is the gist/general meaning of it?
TC


----------



## cherine

turkcurious said:


> In Iranian culture, when somebody dies, his/her family or relatives decide to please the soul of the dead by distributing meal/date, etc either in the cemetery or in the street (usually on Thursday evenings). So they start to give out food or anything else on the condition that the user grants/endows one Salavaat to the dead. The people who use the food pay no money but instead they recite Salavaat. The reward of this ( salavaat) reciting is then redirected to the soul of that dead not to the reciter. It is believed that this will clear the sins and will put God's mercy on the dead.​



Thank you for a detailed explanation, Turkcurious.
It's the same in Egypt, except for the "salavaat" part: we pray/say "du'aa" دعاء for the dead (May God have mercy of his soul, may he be forgiven, may he go to heaven...) instead of reciting salavaat. 

I believe it's this cultural difference that caused me confusion about the Iranian usage of salavaat.

Thank you all for your explanations. ​


----------



## turkcurious

Cherine 
Same duaas are said in Iran. May God…. May he be… But the salvaat story explained above is something else. 
I suppose there was a misunderstanding from the first.
Just to summarize the above posts:
In order to persuade different people to read/ recite a holy verse in favour of our dead, we offer them meal/beverage on the condition that they say salavaat. ( in the hope that the reward ثواب goes to the dead). To do this, we hold a dish of fresh dates,juice… in hand and go to street to face people, even strangers. When they take one to eat, we remind: it is salavaati.(many people already know it is salavaati (from the day- thursdays , maybe from the way the distributor is wearing –black clothes and they automatically recite a salvaat upon eating).
Note: this is not only done for the dead. You can give out salavaati meal/beverage just to nourish the poor and gain reward.
Nowadays, there is a new fashion in Iran. You see some salavaati stations on streets . These temporary tents/kiosks give out tea/occasionally snack,juice…. to passers by.
I remember during Muharram drinking many cups of tea for one salavaat.
Delicious….., and relaxing


----------



## cherine

Interesting! 

I think there's no misunderstanding here. It's the exact same thing in Egypt, but instead of salavaati it's only the prayers for the dead. And one more difference, most of these food and beverages are given either near the cimetries or in the street/neighborhood of the deceased, or in poor neighborhoods.

And we don't have this new fashion of salavaati stations. 

P.S. The name for this food/beverage (it's mainly -if not only- food) in Egypt is "raHma" رحمة maybe because we seek mercy for the deceased. So, it's another resemblance to the Persian custom: naming the act of distribution after the words said or the mercy desired.


----------



## Faylasoof

Just to go back to what I wanted to say but didn’t due to lack of time.

Turkcurious, while I know what you mean by the good points you make above, my own understanding of the use of “salawat” in relation to the distribution of free food and drinks in general is a little different. 

Although we too have the same idea of free food distribution in memory of the dead, with the accompanying utterance of “salawat” as a means for their salvation (i.e of the dead), we do distinguish this from the meaning underlying the use of “salawat” generally whenever food is distributed (or other charitable acts are involved), i.e. when not associated with the death of a relative / friend etc. 

As Muslims we are all obliged to follow Quranic and prophetic commands. Feeding the poor for free is one them. As Muslims we also believe that God is the ultimate provider (الرزاق), however, when we obey these commands of helping the poor with food (or money), we become the instruments / means of these commandments and _appear _to be the provider. _But as these are acts of piety, which we are meant to do selflessly, at no point our egos and self interests should ever come into them - we are after all merely following the Quran and the sunnah of the Prophet._ Consequently, during the whole process the receiver (and also the provider) of free meals / drinks should always remember God the Provider (الرزاق) and refer to the Prophet, the exemplar. 

Now, whenever we remember the Prophet we, all Muslims, are obliged to send him “salawat”, but when we send him “salawat” we are also obliged to include his progeny (آل). This is universally accepted in all major books of all factions of our faith as an obligatory Prophetic command. For example, both Sahih Muslim and Bukhari (volume 4, page 118) mention it. 

In these and other books are detailed reports of how this Prophetic command came about – all to do with this Quranic verse: 

إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ وَمَلَـٰٓٮِٕڪَتَهُ ۥ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى ٱلنَّبِىِّۚ يَـٰٓأَيُّہَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ صَلُّواْ عَلَيۡهِ وَسَلِّمُواْ تَسۡلِيمًا ​ 
(سُوۡرَةُ الاٴحزَاب , ٥٦ )​ 
[Allah and His angels, send blessings on the Prophet: O ye that believe! send ye blessings on him and salute him, with all respect. (Surah al-A7zaab, verse 56)  - Abdullah Yusufali translation]

When people asked the Prophet how they should send him blessings he said: 

قال )ص( :  قولوا اللّهم صلّ على محمد و على آل محمد كما صلّيت على إبراهيم و على آل إبراهيم إنك حميد مجيد .​ 
Therefore, during all acts of charity – distribution of free meals being just one of them – whenever we thank God the Provider and bless the Prophet, the exemplar, we are supposed to include the Prophet’s progeny. 

The ثواب for these acts doesn’t go to the provider of the free meal (or other charitable acts); instead it is for the Prophet and, by extension, his progeny - a way to ensure that we never treat these as favours given by us to the poor and be driven by any self-interest. These are our religious and moral duties that need to be met without accrued benefits to us, the actors of charitable deeds. 

This is how it was explained to me by my elders when I  was growing up. 

… and in sense I too am curious about this:



turkcurious said:


> I am having a hard time thinking what this phrase can be. . panjabigator, are you sure this is peculiar to Muharram? Can you mention some words of it at least or what is the gist/general meaning of it?
> TC


 I have a feeling what Panjabigator might be referring to. Let us wait for him to tell us but in the meantime I can say that he may not mean that the standard form of “salawat” or what Licinio mentioned in post # 4 (i.e. salam), is peculiar / particular to Muharram. It is just that we hear the “salawat” as well as the “salam” a lot during this month. All to do with the religious gatherings around this time of the year which we call <majlis-e-azaa>, often shortened to just <majlis>. During these, the reciter (who can also be, say, an Urdu poet reciting a  _marthiyah _مرثیہ) would often say <<salawat!>> and the audience would respond by uttering the “salawat”. At the end of the event a <ziyaarat> is recited where one hears the form that Lincinio mentioned:   


سلام على محمد وآل محمد​ or  something like this:

السلام عليك يا رسول اللّه ، السلام عليك يا أبا عبد اللّه الحسين و عليكم السلام و رحمة اللّه و بركاته 
​ ...​ Even the “salawat” can be heard in different forms e.g. when a particular member of the Prophet’s family is mentioned: 

اللّهم صلّ على فاطمة و أبيها و بعلها و بنيها بعدد ما أحاط به علمك​ 
It all depends on the occasion and the persons involved.

Sorry for the long post but I thought I'd better explain as to how _we_ see all this.


----------

