Millions March to Karbala to Mark Arbaeen

Millions of pilgrims have gathered in Iraq's holy city of Karbala to commemorate Arbaeen, one of the most revered religious occasions on the Islamic calendar, Press TV reports.

Arbaeen marks the culmination of a 40-day mourning period after the anniversary of the martyrdom of Hussein, Prophet Muhammad's grandson and the third Shia Imam.

Over the past days, large crowds of Shia mourners from various countries have arrived in Imam Hussein's shrine in Karbala.

Tight security measures were put in place with a large number of security forces deployed in Iraq's holy sites in preparation for the occasion.

The Iraqi defense and interior ministries have deployed 35,000 security forces to secure the roads for the pilgrims.

Despite the recent spate of terrorist attacks which targeted pilgrims in different parts of Baghdad, many pilgrims kept walking from their hometowns to Karbala.

The local government of Karbala said that security preparations have been made since ten days ago to prevent new terrorist attacks against the pilgrims.

Imam Hussein Ibn Ali (as) and 72 supporters were martyred in the Battle of Karbala in the year 61 AH (680 CE). A forty-day period of mourning is the usual length of mourning ceremonies in many Islamic cultures.

Arbaeen marks an important turning point in the movement of Karbala. On this day, a first pilgrim braved the threats and intimidation of the anti-justice rulers of the time and made pilgrimage to the grave of Imam Hussein.

An earlier report released on Friday said that approximately 12 million visitors had arrived in Karbala by then, with an additional 4-5 million expected during the coming two days to commemorate the 40th day of mourning of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (pbuh) sources said.

Source: News agencies, edited by moqawama.org