4M+ pilgrims arrive in Iraq ahead of Arbaeen

Shafaq News- Baghdad

A total of 4,007,257 foreign pilgrims entered Iraq for Arbaeen from the beginning of the Islamic month of Muharram on June 16 through Friday night, Security Media Cell chief Lt. Gen. Saad Maan told Shafaq News.

Mohammed Al-Masoudi, head of Karbala province’s Tribal Affairs and Religious Occasions Committee, previously told Shafaq News that more than 20 million pilgrims from Iraq and abroad are expected to participate in this year’s commemoration in Karbala, with the July 29 Saudi-US airstrikes not disrupting arrivals.

Arbaeen, Arabic for “fortieth,” falls on August 4 this year and marks the final day of the 40-day mourning period after Ashura, when Prophet Muhammad’s grandson and the third Shia Imam Hussein bin Ali was killed at the Battle of Karbala in 680 CE. Millions travel to his shrine, many on foot, while volunteers provide food, water, shelter, and medical services along the routes.

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