Karbala hosts world’s largest annual religious gathering on ‘Arbaeen’

The small Iraqi city of Karbala is  hosting the world’s largest annual gathering of pilgrims who flock to the place every year to mark Arbaeen, which happened on Saturday. Arbaeen stands for the 40th day of the massacre of Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Imam Hussain who, along with his kith and kins, fought a battle with tyrant Yazid in this city in the 7th century, and was buried here.

Over 21 million people, mostly Shia Muslims, from various countries and belonging to various sects, religions and ethnicities, have congregated here, with the Iraqi government and the locals taking care of their transport, food  and accommodation.

The most astonishing feature of Arbaeen is the fact that a small city like Karbala, which normally can only accommodate 5 lakh persons in its geographical area, hosts more than 2 crore people during the pilgrimage every year. If we compare it to Hajj, Saudi Arabia does not take in pilgrims of Hajj unless they pay money for the cost of travel, food, and accommodation, whereas Iraq covers food, transportation, and accommodation for free. Only around 2,400,000 pilgrims attended Hajj in pre-Covid times, and only one million were allowed this year.

The reason behind Iraqis accommodating such a huge multitude is the selfless service of the Iraqis for the pilgrims of Karbala. All Iraqis, including a large population of Sunni Muslims, serve the pilgrims from Baghdad to Najaf to Karbala.

During the pilgrimage, abundant supplies of food, medical services units are available for pilgrims and they all work for free. The care of pilgrims is regarded as a religious duty for the Iraqis. Even poor Iraqis offer their homes to the guests.

The pilgrims carry flags of different colors but the black flag of mourning for Imam Hussain is by far the most common. They also decorate buildings and temporary tents which are used for praying, eating, and sleeping along the three main routes leading to Karbala. More than seven thousand such makeshift tents were set up in the city of Karbala in 2022.  There are some tents set up by Indians, Pakistanis, and Americans.

British Photographer Emily Braithwaite whose video of visit of Karbala, crying like Shia Muslims, went viral in 2017, wrote in her blog, “Despite the unparalleled scale, and despite being both the largest number of people fed for free and the biggest volunteer gathering in the world, the commemoration is rarely covered by international media. Arbaeen is of great importance both for Iraq and the Shi’a, but also for the wider region. It has endured great hardships, having been banned by Saddam Hussein, and remains a magnet for terrorist attacks. Today, its very existence speaks of resilience and offers a window into innumerable and significant stories.”

Islamic Scholar Sayed Mahdi al-Modarresi, writes in The Huffington Post, “Arba’een should be listed in the Guinness Book of World Records in several categories. The biggest annual gathering, longest continuous dining table, the largest number of people fed for free, and the largest group of volunteers serving a single event, all under the imminent threat of suicide bombings.”

Moreover, Najaf to Karbala walk is the longest walk (80 km) undertaken by millions.

According to official figures reported by Iraqi News, more than 21 million people have visited Karbala during Arbaeen from 70 countries, it is an annual record this year because no other gathering like this taken place in the world. According to media reports, about 1,400 pilgrims from Hyderabad and a total of 25,000 from across India have congregated at Karbala.

—INDIA NEWS STREAM