Arbaeen

Arbaeen, Shiʿi Muslim observance that marks the end of the 40-day mourning period for the death of al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī, which is commemorated annually on Ashura. It is marked on the 20th day of the Islamic month of Safar, especially in the city of Karbala, Iraq, where Ḥusayn was buried after being killed in the Battle of Karbala (680). The Muslim use of a lunar calendar means that Ashura and Arbaeen may occur during any season. More than 20 million pilgrims attend the event at his tomb each year, making it one of the largest annual one-day gatherings in the world.

Observance and practice

Arbaeen follows the custom of a 40-day mourning period after the death of a loved one that is often observed among Muslims. According to Shiʿi tradition, the first Arbaeen visit to Ḥusayn’s grave took place 40 days after his death with a visit by Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Anṣārī, one of the Companions of the Prophet. Early documentation of the practice is sparse, however, owing at least in part to the marginalization and persecution of the Shiʿah for much of the early Islamic period. Ḥasan al-ʿAskarī, the 11th imam of the Twelver Shiʿah, wrote that the pilgrimage of Arbaeen was one of the signs of a believer, indicating some level of institutionalized practice by the 9th century. Ziyārat al-Arbaʿīn, a devotional prayer attributed to the 6th imam, Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq, has been an important component of the pilgrimage for much of its history.

Since the 20th century, Arbaeen has been observed with public gatherings that process on foot, the most prominent of which travels some 50 miles (80 km) over several days in Iraq, from Najaf, where the first Shiʿi imam, ʿAlī, is buried, to Karbala, where Ḥusayn is buried, and is lined with numerous mawākib (makeshift camps; singular, mawkib) that provide nourishment, drink, and temporary shelter. Pilgrims from within Iraq often process to Karbala from where they reside, whereas those from outside Iraq tend to start in Najaf. Local processions also take place in Twelver Shiʿah communities around the world for those who cannot make the pilgrimage in Iraq. During the rule of Saddam Hussein the procession to Karbala was largely prohibited. It was revived after he was deposed in 2003 and grew steadily, from nearly 2 million participants that year to about 20 million in the mid-2010s.

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Significance in Shiʿism

The Shiʿah, or shīʿat ʿAlī (“faction of ʿAli”), originated in the early generations of Islam as a faction of Muslims who supported the family of Muhammad (Ahl al-Bayt) to lead the Muslim community. The faction’s precursors backed ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, Muhammad’s son-in-law and cousin, immediately after Muhammad’s death in 632. But it was only in 656, after three other caliphs had ruled, that ʿAlī was accepted as the community’s fourth leader, albeit with considerable opposition along tribal lines. When ʿAlī was killed in 661, the leader of the rival clan Muʿāwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān assumed the caliphate and positioned his son Yazīd to inherit the caliphate through dynastic succession, departing from the previous process of consulting notables for consensus (shūrā) in choosing a leader. The Battle of Karbala marked a pivotal moment for this faction when Ḥusayn, a son of ʿAlī and grandson of Muhammad, mounted a challenge to Yazīd but was defeated and slain in the battle. Ḥusayn’s defeat and Yazīd’s subsequent consolidation of power helped solidify the Shiʿah as a distinct and often marginalized group and enabled Umayyad dynastic rule of the Islamic world until 750. Ḥusayn’s death became for the Shiʿah a symbol of selfless resistance against worldly injustice and tyranny and is commemorated with lamentation each year on Ashura. When the period of mourning culminates 40 days later, Arbaeen serves as an affirmation of devotion to Ḥusayn and Muhammad’s family. For the Twelver Shiʿah, this devotion is linked to expectations of the return of Muḥammad al-Mahdī, the 12th imam, who they believe will establish justice in the end of days.