As the Arabeen ceremony ended this past Wednesday, final figures issued by the Iraqi government showed that well over 22 million pilgrims from across the world participated in the religious ceremony, a nearly 2 million increase compared to last year.
The holy ceremony of the Arbaeen walk is commemorated every year in Iraq by the attendance of millions of pilgrims from different countries and different religions in the world.
This year’s ceremony hit the previous records as over 22 million men, women, and children took the journey from their countries to Iraq to honor the Arbaeen, the 40th day of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the third Imam in the Shia Islam, which happened during Ashura in 61 AH
Last year, nearly 20 million pilgrims reached themselves to Iraq to take part in the Arbaeen walk. The Arbaeen walk is indeed the largest religious gathering of Muslims and non-Muslims to honor an event in Islam.
In a news conference held this Saturday in Karbala, Governor of Karbala Al-Khattabi pointed out that this year, Iraq saw the largest number of pilgrims ever attended the Arbaeen walk. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani was also present in the news conference.
Most foreign pilgrims from Iran, Iraqi officials said.
According to figures by the Iraqi officials, Iranians made up the majority of the 6 million foreign pilgrims in this year’s Arbaeen and about four million Iranians participated in the religious ceremony. The number of foreign pilgrims who participated in the Arbaeen ceremony last year was five million, of which three million were Iranian.
The increase in the number of Arbaeen pilgrims this year is while Iraq is experiencing its hottest year and the temperature in most places in the country is above 40 degrees Celsius. The city of Kirkuk in the north of Baghdad is also scene to violent protests where Iraqi Kurds are holding demonstrations, criticizing the central government in Iraq for not granting enough funding for workers in the city.
However, despite all the difficulties, Arbaeen pilgrims traveled long distances to reach the shrine of Imam Hussein (AS) and his brother. Hazrat Abbas (pbuh) all on foot from Najaf to Karbala, two holy cities in Iraq.
After Iran, according to Iraqi media sources, foreign countries including Afghanistan, Pakistan and India accounted for the largest number of Arbaeen pilgrims. The presence of pilgrims from Russia, Georgia, Sweden, South Korea, China, also attracted a lot of media attention.
This year’s Arbaeen walk was held differently from previous years also regarding the readiness of the Iraqi government and people to host the pilgrims during their stay in Iraq.
According to a statement issued by the governor of Karbala this Saturday, for example, more than 28,000 people and thousands of mokebs (camp houses) were installed in the way from Najaf to Karbala to provide services to the pilgrims.
Good to mention here that on the routes of the pilgrimage to Karbala, food, accommodation and other services are provided for free by Iraqi people and volunteers. The care of pilgrims is in fact regarded as a religious duty.
The Arbaeen pilgrimage is non-obligatory compared to Hajj which is obligatory for those who can afford it. However, the Arbaeen walk attracts way more attendees every year compared to the Haj pilgrimage. During this year’s Hajj, for example, nearly 2.5 million people went to Saudi Arabia to attend the religious pilgrimage.
