Arbaeen commemorates the end of a 40-day mourning period after the
killing of Imam Hussein, the Prophet Muhammad's grandson, during a
battle in 680 AD.
Millions of Shia pilgrims are gathering in Iraq's holy city of Karbala
to mark Arbaeen, commemorating the end of a 40-day mourning period after
the killing of Imam Hussein, the Prophet Muhammad's grandson, during a
battle in 680 AD. His martyrdom is considered a defining event in the
schism between Sunni and Shia Muslims.
Huge crowds of Shia Muslim pilgrims gather outside the Imam Hussein shrine in the holy city of Karbala
Arbaeen is the world's largest annual gathering, with the number of
pilgrims far exceeding the two million visitors who descend on Mecca for
the Hajj. In 2015, Iraqi state-run media said more than 22 million
pilgrims visited Karbala, setting a record for the annual pilgrimage,
though that figure could not be independently verified.
Shia Muslim pilgrims fill the streets of the holy city of Karbala during Arbaeen
Shia Muslim pilgrims outside the Imam Hussein shrine in Karbala
Shia Muslims have commonly been targeted by by hardline Sunni insurgents(ISIS)
during the Arbaeen period. Iraqi authorities have adopted stringent
security measures for the annual pilgrimage procession. Hundreds of
thousands of Iraqi Shia pilgrims made the 80-kilometre (50 mile) trek on
foot from Baghdad, escorted by armoured vehicles, soldiers and
ambulances. More than a million pilgrims are expected to make the
journey on foot from Iran.
Shia Muslim pilgrims walk past security guards as they head to the holy city of Karbala
Shia Muslim pilgrims walk through Najaf as they head for the holy city of Karbala
A suicide bomber killed six people near Karbala on Monday 14 November,
at the start of the festival, an attack claimed by the hardline Sunni
militants of Islamic State (Isis/Daesh), who regard Shia Muslims as
apostates. Undeterred by the threat, huge crowds of Shia pilgrims have
flocked to the shrines of Hussein and his half-brother Abbas in Karbala
