Arba'een - LinkTV World News

Arba'een

Description

Arba'een or Chehelom, is a Shia Muslim religious observance that occurs 40 days after the Day of Ashura. It commemorates the martyrdom of Hussein bin Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad which falls on the 20th day of the month of Safar. Husayn and 71 supporters martyred in the Battle of Karbala in the year 61 AH, killed by Yazid I's army. Arba'een is also observed 40 days after the death of a family member or loved one. Forty days is the usual length of the time of mourning in many Islamic cultures. Arba'een, or Chehlom, is one of the largest pilgrimage gatherings on Earth, in which over 15 million people go to the city of Karbala in Iraq. The occasion reminds the faithful of the core message behind Husayn's martyrdom: establishing justice and fighting injustice, no matter what its incarnation—a message that strongly influenced subsequent Shi'a uprisings against the Umayyad and Abbasid rule. In the first Arba'een gathering in the year 62 AH, Jabir ibn Abd-Allah, a companion of the Prophet, was one of the people who performed a pilgrimage to the burial site of Husayn. Due to his infirmity and probable blindness, he was accompanied by Atiyya bin Saad. His visit coincided with that of the surviving female members of the Prophet's family and Husayn's son and heir Imam Zain-ul-Abideen, who had all been held captive in Damascus by Yazid I, the Umayyad Caliph. Imam Zain-ul-Abideen had been too ill to participate in the Battle of Karbala. He later devoted his life to Azadari and spreading the message of Imam Hussain's supreme sacrifice. (via Freebase)

Also See

Baghdad

Shia Islam

Iraq

Karbala

Libya

Jalu

Tikrit