There are a number of things that keep me humble. One is semi-regularly learning amazing things about which I had no idea. Today’s? Arbaeen. (arr-bah-EEN)
Have you heard about this? It’s a Hajj-ish Islamic pilgrimage, but mainly for Shias. Sunnis and Shias split over succession of community leadership after Muhammad’s death and when the dominant guys killed Husayn ibn Ali, Muhammad’s grandson in the Battle of Karbala, the minorities found their forever martyr.
Shias begin to commemorate Husayn’s death on Ashura each year. Then forty days later they gather at his grave in the city of Karbala for prayers and memorials.
Here’s where it gets crazy:
- While Saudi Arabia caps Hajj attendance at around 2 million. Arbaeen sees around 20 million these days. It’s the Hajj 10X and relatively little mention makes it to the popular press!
- Many of the pilgrims begin their journey in Najaf in southern Iraq, then walk 45 miles north to Karbala. Along the way, volunteers, often local people along the route, feed, house, charge phones and generally care for pilgrims.
- One million Iranians joined this year’s pilgrimage to commemorate Husayn’s death. They see history echo in the recent killing of their leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
- Arbaeen was disallowed during the reign of Saddam Hussein from 1979 until his U.S.-led overthrow in 2003. This may be part of the reason many of us have not heard about it.
- The pilgrimage is called Arbaeen because that is the Arabic number for fortieth and it signifies the end of 40 days of mourning for Husayn.
For more information on Arbaeen, check out this reel featuring the biggest shwarma spit I’ve ever seen! Read this essay for a possibly too positive description of the pilgrimage and Wikipedia for the straight scoop.