Arba'een
Arba’een commemorates the passage of 40 days after the Day of Ashura, the anniversary of the assassination of Hussain ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad.
Arba’een commemorates the passage of 40 days after the Day of Ashura, the anniversary of the assassination of Hussain ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad.
Kashinda Carter
Reviewer URLDate: September 5-6
Pronunciation: ARR-ba-een
Arba’een commemorates the passage of 40 days after the Day of Ashura, the anniversary of the assassination of Hussain ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad.
Origin
Arba’een marks the end of the standard 40-day mourning period commemorating Hussain ibn Ali, a grandson of the prophet Muhammad and a 7th century revolutionary leader who fought for social justice. Ali and Hussein’s followers branched off and became known as the Shiite Muslims.
When is it celebrated
Arba’een occurs forty days after the Day of Ashura, which itself is observed on the 10th day of Muharram, according to the Islamic calendar. The date shifts from year to year.
Who observes this holiday
Shiite Muslims observe Arba’een. It is a public holiday in both Iraq and Iran.
Traditions
On this day, as many as 25 million pilgrims set out on a nearly 50-mile march across Iraq from the city of Najaf to Karbala, where Hussein was killed. Additionally, symbolic marches are organized in cities around the world to mark the anniversary and promote Hussein’s idea of social justice.
About Hussain ibn Ali
Hussain ibn Ali, also known to followers as Imam Hussain, was a grandson of the prophet Muhammad, founder of Islam. He protested the tyrannical leadership of the Umayyad caliph Yazid I in 7th century Iraq. Both Hussain and many members of his family were tortured and killed by the ruler’s soldiers as a result of the uprising. It was this episode that caused his followers to create a new branch of the Muslim religion, Shia Islam.