Free Ziaraat Plan Terms & Conditions

    FZP Terms and Conditions – (Updated 11.1.2021).

Participants are requested to please review the following Terms and Conditions before they purchase Entries to participate in the Free Ziyaraat Plan ( FZP). These terms and conditions are applicable to all participants, including the  Member participants. The project’s implementation is divided into three Phases.

1. Eligibility:  Under Phase 1 (Draw #1 to #12), all Shia Muslims of Jaferia faith, age19 or older, living in the USA as US Citizens or Green Card holders, are eligible to participate for Draws #1 to #12. Under Phase 2 (Draw #13 to #24) the Age group is reduced to 19 yrs. to 39 yrs. whereas under Phase 3  (beginning Draw #25), the age group is further reduced to 19 yrs, to 29 yrs. The program shall be managed by Shia Youth Social Services Inc (Shia Youth Inc.) a non-profit organization registered in the State of Maryland.
2. Entry Donation: Entry purchases can be done on line (www.Shia-youth.org, see Category: Free Ziyaraat Plan ) by paying a minimum donation of $25 per Entry. Select any available entry slot #001 to #300 of your choice. Each selected slot will be considered as one Entry. Any eligible person can purchase up to four Entries for any Draw. To enter, place the selected Entries in the Cart and then proceed to payment.
3. Entry Payment Method: The website allows participants to pay by PayPal (Friends & Family) or Zelle, or Venmo (Shia -Youth),or make a deposit to Shia Youth inc.’s Bank of America account # 4460 3272 4797 or by writing a check payable to Shia Youth Inc. and mail  it to Shia Youth Inc., 15216 Rockport Drive, Silver Spring, MD 20905.
4. Draw Schedule:  Normally, it is planned to hold three Draws per year, 4 months apart, preferably during the Islamic months of Shaban, Ziqaad, and Rabi ul Awwal. Exact date will be posted on website  www. shia-youth.org, (see Category: Inserts / Messages).
5. Special Incentive: Participants who purchase Entry tickets for any Draw  shall be eligible  to receive a free promotion which will  allow participation in two consecutive Draws instead of one, (a promotion).
6. Winners: One Winner and two Alternate Winners will be randomly selected for each Draw by a Molana or an Aalim except when only one winner or one alternate winner is to be selected for any Draw; in that case Shia Youth Team shall do the selection. The Winner shall receive an all expenses paid free Ziyaraat awards consisting of Visa, R.T. Travel from USA to Iraq, Hotel, Meals, and Ground Transportation in Iraq, total not to exceed $2,200. The Alternate Winners shall receive an all expenses paid free Ziyaraat package consisting of Visa, Hotel, Meals, and Ground Transportation, total value of Land Package total not to exceed $900. (The round trip air travel from USA to Iraq shall be of Alternate Winners’ responsibility). The number of awards for any Draw shall be dependent upon number of participants for the Draw.  Less than 40 participants Draw shall be postponed by 6 weeks, if 41 to 60, the award shall be only one alternate winner award, 61 t0 90 two awards consisting of one winner and one alternate winner, and 9 1 and above three awards including  one winner and two alternate winners..Entries purchased by a ” Banda e Khuda” participant shall not be included for the Draw. A winner or an alternate winner, once accepts an award and  intends to proceeds for the Ziyaraat, shall not be eligible to participate in any FZP Draw for two (3) consecutive years after he/she has performed the Ziyaraat. The Winners may however continue to make their membership current to assist others to perform the Ziyaraat. All winners shall be required to be in full compliance of FZP Terms and Conditions including the Eligibility requirements. In the event of any non compliance or violation, the winning award will be cancelled. Award winners shall continue to pay their Membership fees to keep their files current otherwise the files will automatically move into Archive. 
7. Non Acceptance of Offers:  All winning Awards are required to be used by the persons who have actually won the Awards. The Offers or Awards are non transferable. Should any winner or alternate winner decline to accept the offer of Free Ziyaraat Opportunity, or cancels the accepted offers or Awards, the unused offer will be donated to  the  Ziyaraat Fund to enable the  winner or alternate winner to earn sawab e jariyya, JazakAllh.
8. Ziyaraat Certificate: Upon submission of eligibility documents including first page of US Passport or a copy of Green Card, Shia Youth Inc. will provide each winner a non-transferable, Free Ziyaraat Offer Certificate with a validity period of 18 consecutive months from the date of the Draw, (meaning Ziyaraat must be completed within the 18 month period) except for Draws #4, #5, #6, #7 and #8, for which, due to Covid-19, the period has been increased from 9 to 18 months to ensure a safe journey. For personal or family emergencies, extensions up to 90 days will be considered.
9. Tour Operators: Shia Youth Inc. has pre selected Tour Operators who will accept the given Award Certificates and will receive payments for the land package directly from Shia Youth Inc. Arrangement for air travel shall be winner or alternate winner’s responsibility. The winners shall however be eligible to receive reimbursement up to the specified amount for air travel or/and the land package  for which he/she spent own money. The alternate winner shall be eligible to receive reimbursement for the Land Package upto the specified amount. The reimbursement payment shall be given after completion of the Ziyaraat and upon submission of copies of three documents , see Rule 9 below. No cash or check payment will be given to any winner or any un-authorized tour operator unless prior approval from Shia Youth Inc. for any reimbursement has been requested by the Award winner(s) and approvals to be obtained in writing.
10. Payments or Reimbursements: If any winner or alternate winner performed Ziyaraat using his/her money or own group, then maximum reimbursement allowable to winner is $2200, and to alternate winner is $900 provided prior approvals were obtained and three documents were submitted (i.e., copy of Iraq visa, copies of Boarding passes for travel to & from Iraq,  and copy of Entry/Exit stamps on passport). Excluded costs  are Travel upgrade, penalty, fees for changes in travel dates, any domestic travel in US, PCR costs, and personal expenses.The Certificates shall not be valid for winners and alternate winners during peak travel season periods of July, August, Ashura, and Arba’een. Exceptions will however be considered provided any extra cost beyond the allowable limit is borne by the participants. The Ziyaraat Certificates once issued to winners or alternate winners will neither be amended nor cancelled  by Shia Youth Inc during the validity period.
11. Special Draws For Students: College or University Students can participate in the regular Draws and special FZP Draws as and when organized. Details of Special Draws will be announced and posted to the website. Occasionally, prepaid free Student Memberships are offered which entitles Students to participate in three consecutive Draws every year as long as their eligibility permit. Once the three Draws are completed they will have option to participate in future Draws by paying a donation of $10 per Draw.
12. Courtesy Request : In order to promote the FZP Project, each winner is requested to please sponsor 5 College or University students of age 19 or above, (living in USA), as soon as possible before or after the Ziyaraat journey.  Shia Youth’s donors will pay the initial participation fee for those students who can not afford to pay the Entry donation.
13. Hotels: It will be the responsibility of the Winners to obtain information about the Hotels and meals that the tour operators will provide in Iraq. The male travelers shall share rooms with other male travelers, and all female travelers shall share rooms with other female travelers.
14. Donations: All donations made to Shia Youth Inc. are deductible and tax exempt. Donations of $100 or more will be listed on the Project Donation List (See website).
15. Khums : Shia Youth Inc. has received “Ijazah”, a religious authorization to collect Khums (Sehme Imam +Sehme Sadat) from the office of US Office of His Eminence, Grand Ayatullah Ali Al-Sistani. All Khums payments must be made by Checks payable to Shia Youth Social Services Inc., and mailed to Shia Youth Inc., 15216 Rockport Drive, Silver Spring, MD 20905. Authentic receipts will be provided to each payer promptly by Shia Youth Inc., insha’Allah.
16. Changes: Shia Youth Management Team shall have the authority to amend, revise, change or update the Free Ziyaraat Plan terms and conditions including reducing the number of Draws, the number of Awards, or changing the number of Winners for future Draws, or holding special Draws, or cancelling any Draw  after posting a 2 weeks notice.
17. Complaint or Protest: Any complaint or protest on the results of a Draw can be filed by email ([email protected]) within ten days of the Draw held. Shia Youth Management Team will review the complaint or the protest and make a consultation with Molana if required, and will make a final decision which will be binding to all participants.
18. Cancellation: Once the Ziyaraat Certificate has been issued to a winner or alternate winner, and if the winner due to any personal reasons changes his/her mind, and does not wish to go for Ziyaraat, he/she will immediately inform Ziyarat Group Operators if reservation was made, and also inform by email to Shia Youth Team at the same time. Due to any cancellation, the Group operators or/and travel agents may charge a penalty which will be the Winners responsibility.
19. Notifications: Approximately 30 days prior to any Draw, Shia Youth Team shall make an Announcement through its website (Shia-youth.org, Category “Inserts / Messages”) about the date of the Draw and confirm the number of winners to be randomly selected based on the number of Entries purchased and available funds.
20. Member Participants: The Annual Membership Plan (AMP) members will pay an annual donation of $30 per membership account preferably at the beginning of each calendar year. For the Pioneer Members, one additional membership account will be allowed for a family member upon additional membership payment. Each family Member will be eligible to participate in the Draw by purchasing no more than two member Entries.  Only those members shall be included for the Draw whose membership is current or who have paid a donation of $10 per Draw. Membership is offered to all eligible participants upon a Membership donation of $45 (+Annual Membership donation of $30) or free at the end of any calendar year provided the participants have already participated in three consecutive Draws. The Annual membership payments can be made by PayPal (Family and Friends), Zelle, Venmo, Bank Transfers, or by Checks mailed to Shia Youth Social Services, Inc. Final list of FZP Member Participants will be posted from time to time to the website.
21. Should any AMP member pays the annual membership dues late, or a new member joins AMP in middle of the year, and misses one or two Draws, in that case, he/she will have option to be be compensated by including one or two additional Entries in his/her name in the last Draw of the year. (i.e., If the members Entry # is 99, then new Entries to be added shall be 99a or/and 99b..”a” meaning the first Draw was missed, “b” meaning the second Draw was also missed).
22. To order FZP Entry Tickets by Mail:  Pay a donation of $25 per Entry ticket, and provide the following information:    Number of tickets purchased, Names of persons,  Address, phone number and email address. Mail the information along with your check (payable to Shia Youth Inc.) for Entry tickets purchased as well as for any additional donation for Eisal e Sawab of Marhumeen, to :Shia Youth Inc., 15216 ROCKPORT DRIVE, SILVER SPRING, MD 20905. For all entry purchases and donations, the participants will receive a confirmation by email, JazakAllah.

See also

•         Project Donation List

• List Of Winners of Prior Draws:

   

  Draw No. (Date Held)	Winners
  Draw #1 (Nov 30, 2018)	Br. Alireza Mukhi (MD) Br. Mustafa Sabir (MD) Sr. Syeda Raza (PA)
  Draw #2 (Apr 20, 2019)	Br. Farzad Moosvi (MD) Br. Afsar Peerbhoy (CA) Br. Syed Ali Shiraze (MD)
  Draw#3 (Aug 23, 2019)	Br. Shawn Kirmani (MD) Br. Asad Hussain (NY) Br. Shahid Rizvi (MD)
  Draw#4 (Nov 30, 2019)	Sr. Shehnaz Rajan (MD) Br. Nasib Manekia (CA) Student Sr. Gazala Rizvi (MD) Sr. Sehar Sabir (NY)
  Draw#5 (May 30, 2020)	Br. A. Zaidi (MD) Br. Shahid Rizvi (MD) Sr. Rukhsana Sabir (TX)
  Drw #6 (Oct 25, 2020).	(4) Winners will be randomly selected by the Molana.
  Draw#7 ( Date to be announced)