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Shiites throng Karbala for Arbaeen despite threats
Iraq’s holy shrine city of Karbala was gearing up for the climax of annual Shiite mourning rituals on Wednesday, with millions of pilgrims thronging the city amid tightened security.
Officials said some 15 million devotees will have passed through Karbala by Saturday, when Arbaeen commemorations conclude, braving the threat of deadly attacks against the Shiite community that have killed dozens in the past week.
Arbaeen marks 40 days after the Ashura anniversary commemorating the slaying of Imam Hussein, one of Shiite Islam’s most revered figures, by the armies of the caliph Yazid in 680 AD.
In recent days, throngs of mourners have overflowed Hussein’s shrine in Karbala, demonstrating their ritual guilt and remorse for not defending him by beating their heads and chests in rituals of self-flagellation. Sad songs blared from loudspeakers throughout the city and black flags fluttered alongside pictures of Hussein and his half-brother Imam Abbas, both of whom are buried in the city.
Karbala provincial Governor Amal al-Din al-Har said he expected that some 15 million pilgrims will have visited the shrine city in the two weeks running to Arbaeen’s climax on Saturday. Included in that figure, he said, were around 200,000 devotees from outside the country.
The massive figure was overwhelming Karbala’s infrastructure, the governor told AFP, warning that “there are not enough vehicles, and there are not enough roads to transport all the pilgrims.”
Iraq’s holy shrine city of Karbala was gearing up for the climax of annual Shiite mourning rituals on Wednesday, with millions of pilgrims thronging the city amid tightened security.
Officials said some 15 million devotees will have passed through Karbala by Saturday, when Arbaeen commemorations conclude, braving the threat of deadly attacks against the Shiite community that have killed dozens in the past week.
Arbaeen marks 40 days after the Ashura anniversary commemorating the slaying of Imam Hussein, one of Shiite Islam’s most revered figures, by the armies of the caliph Yazid in 680 AD.
In recent days, throngs of mourners have overflowed Hussein’s shrine in Karbala, demonstrating their ritual guilt and remorse for not defending him by beating their heads and chests in rituals of self-flagellation. Sad songs blared from loudspeakers throughout the city and black flags fluttered alongside pictures of Hussein and his half-brother Imam Abbas, both of whom are buried in the city.
Karbala provincial Governor Amal al-Din al-Har said he expected that some 15 million pilgrims will have visited the shrine city in the two weeks running to Arbaeen’s climax on Saturday. Included in that figure, he said, were around 200,000 devotees from outside the country.
The massive figure was overwhelming Karbala’s infrastructure, the governor told AFP, warning that “there are not enough vehicles, and there are not enough roads to transport all the pilgrims.”
