TEHRAN (Iran News) –Once again on Saturday, Shiites worldwide especially in Karbala of Iraq showed the unity for marking Arbaeen which is the day the grandeur of Shiites is put on display through holding march and procession to mark the anniversary of 40th day after the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (AS), the third Imam of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) Household.
This year the ceremony was held in style and with a massive turnout of Shiites from any part of the world in Karbala where Imam Hussein (AS)’s shrine is.
According to reports only over twenty million pilgrims converged on the Iraqi shrine city of Karbala to mark Arbaeen, while millions of people in their own countries marked the day like Iranians did in the country through holding mourning ceremonies. It is the world’s biggest religious gathering, keenly observed in Iraq, Iran, Bahrain, Lebanon and many other countries.
The black-clad pilgrims gathered at Imam Hussein’s holy shrine in Karbala on Saturday to culminate a week-long procession in commemoration of the martyrdom anniversary of the Prophet Mohammad’s grandson, who was killed along with his companions during the battle of Karbala in 680 AD.
Men, women, teens and elders came together in their millions in the Iraqi city to pay tribute and renew their allegiance to Imam Hussein (AS), who is the all-time icon of fighting injustice, oppression and despotism.
The annual event, which is one of the largest religious congregations in the world, brings together a deluge of Imam Hussein’s lovers and devotees from various nationalities who undertake an 80-km walk between the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala.
Tents and special stands called Moukeb in Arabic are set up on the path leading to the shrine to provide pilgrims with food and other services.
In the past two years, attendance estimates were lower than usual due to coronavirus measures that limited the number of foreign pilgrims entering Iraq.
“We are happy to serve as many pilgrims as possible. We all noticed these exceptional numbers of pilgrims that came to Karbala after the coronavirus pandemic,” said Ali al-Badri, an official in charge of Iraq’s media services, adding that the teams covering departments such as cleaning and the provision of services were mobilized to cater for the needs of the pilgrims coming from Iraq and abroad.
“We distribute about 5000-6000 rations per meal, between breakfast, lunch and dinner – and we are continuing, God willing, we are happy,” said Haider al-Kaabi, who heads a group providing pilgrims with shelter and food free of charge.
For the past weeks, pilgrims from countries including Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, have been arriving in Karbala, located about 100 kilometers southwest of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.
Iran’s government said on Wednesday that a record number of Iranian pilgrims, more than three million, flocked to Iraq to participate in the Arbaeen commemorations.
Ali Bahadori Jahromi, a spokesman for the Iranian government, said around 1.5 million Iranian pilgrims have already returned from the pilgrimage.
The tradition, which attracts an average of 16 million people from across the world every year, is meant to sympathize with Imam Hussein (AS) on the pains he endured in the event of Karbala, where he and 72 of his companions were brutally slaughtered by Yazid’s army.
The ceremony is also fervently observed by Muslims in their own countries across the world.
By the way the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei during a ceremony marking Arbaeen in Tehran hailed the massive turnout of Shiites in this great gathering of Shiites for marking the martyrdom of their Imam Hussein (AS).
In recent years while Shiites have tried to show their unity with massive turnout in Karbala march and processions, enemies of Shiites and especially enemies of Iran and Iraq have tried to undermine this religious unity gathering by negative propagation or painting a negative picture of it like wasting time, money and energy but each time their plot has failed and each time Shiites especially from Iran have had massive presence in this religious event which has turned into the symbol of unity and power of Shiites against ill-wishers.
It is expected the event turn into one of the biggest religious event in the world, something which is not welcomed by foes of Shiites but time has shown us that the more negative propagation has been made against Arbaeen, the less they have been successful to discourage Shiites especially Iranians from showing up in this event especially when the enemies learn that this event is welcomed by middle class people and they rush to Karbala while they are not in good financial condition but they are rich in their beliefs and belief to in their Prophet Household, and this is nothing but the love of Hussein (AS) and God’s blessing which removes all hurdles for this spiritual journey.
