ISLAMABAD – Huge processions have been held in the Iraqi holy city ofKarbala as millions of mourners commemorated Arba’een, the 40th day afterthe martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein (PBUH), the third Shia Imam.
Images showed tens of thousands of pilgrims descending upon the shrine ofImam Hussein in Karbala as Araba’een culminated on Saturday.
Starting since a few days before Arba’een, hundreds of different religiousmourning processions, usually representing different communities and tribesof pilgrims from Iraq and around the world, passed by thegolden-domed shrines of Imam Hussein and his half-brother Abbas ibn Ali(PBUH).
The pilgrims mourned and chanted slogans commemorating Imam Hussein’smartyrdom along the way.
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Due to the large amount of pilgrims present during the ceremonies,processions usually take several hours to enter and exit the areas adjacentto the shrines.
The ceremonies in Karbala came as pilgrims flocked to the holy city formore than two weeks, many of whom trekked about 70 kilometers northwardfrom the holy city of Najaf in a symbolic gesture honoring Imam Hussein.
