Millions of Shia Muslims will soon converge on Karbala to walk to the shrine of Imam Hussein, peace be upon him, for Arbaeen, and the Iraqi city says it has finished getting ready to receive them. Provincial authorities announced on 19 July that Karbala Arbaeen preparations are complete and the province is ready to host visitors.
Governor Nassif al-Khattabi said “the people of Karbala are fully prepared to welcome visitors,” in remarks carried by the Iraqi News Agency and reported by Shafaqna. Arbaeen, which marks the fortieth day after the martyrdom of Imam Hussein at Karbala in 680 CE, falls this year on 20 Safar, expected around 4 to 5 August depending on the moon sighting.
Karbala Arbaeen preparations: inside the pilgrimage build-up According to Shafaqna, the province has widened the “Ya Hussein” pilgrimage roads, completed new routes linking Baghdad and Karbala, and opened fresh gathering and dispatch points for arriving pilgrims. Health and public-service plans were finalised after months of coordination between security commanders, the holy shrines and the prime minister’s service committee. Officials say they accelerated the work because pilgrims are expected to arrive earlier than usual this year.
On 13 July, Iraq’s Higher Committee for Mass Pilgrimages reviewed the national security and services plan, covering border crossings, the reception of foreign pilgrims, and crowd management across Babil, Najaf, Diwaniyah, Muthanna, Dhi Qar, Wasit and Samarra, 964media reported. Deputy Joint Operations Commander Qais al-Muhammadawi described Arbaeen as “a global event attended by millions that embodies the values of solidarity and giving.”
Arbaeen is among the largest annual gatherings on earth. Last year Iraqi authorities recorded more than 22 million visitors at the Imam Hussein shrine, with over 17 million entering through Najaf, according to 964media. Along the roughly 80-kilometre road from Najaf, volunteer mawakib, free service stations offering food, water, medical care and rest, line the route. This is a routine yearly announcement, but the scale of devotion behind it, and the earlier arrivals, make it the definitive marker that the season has begun.
For British pilgrims, the walk reaches home ground too: an Arbaeen procession is scheduled at Marble Arch in London on Sunday 9 August, with UK participation organised by the London-based Al-Khoei Foundation.
