Millions of Shiites Mark Arbaeen in Karbala
(Tasnim) – Around 20 million pilgrims from all over the world have gathered in Iraq’s holy city of Karbala to attend the mourning ceremonies marking Arbaeen, the 40th day after the anniversary of martyrdom of the third Shiite Imam.
The Arbaeen mourning ceremony is one of the largest religious gatherings in the world.
It marks the 40th day after the martyrdom anniversary of the grandson of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), Imam Hussein (AS).
Each year, pilgrims, mainly from Iraq and Iran, travel long routes on foot to Karbala, where the holy tomb is located.
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday praised the procession of pilgrims in Iraq marking Arbaeen as "the most unique and the greatest gathering of Muslims”.
“The congregation commemorating Arbaeen is the most unique and the greatest gathering of Muslims,” President Rouhani said, addressing a session of the country’s Supreme Council on Cultural Revolution.
This year’s procession is of even greater significance as the ISIL terrorist group, known by both Sunni and Muslims as a foreign-backed enemy of Islam, has seized parts of Iraq since an invasion this summer.
The militants could make swift advances in northern and western Iraq after capturing large swaths of northern Syria.
However, a combination of concentrated attacks by the Iraqi military and the popular forces, who rushed to take arms after top Iraqi cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani issued a fatwa calling for fight against the militants, have blunted the edge of the ISIL offensive.