Millions of people from across the world are taking part in a march toward Iraq's holy city of Karbala to attend mourning rituals on Arba’een, marking 40 days after martyrdom anniversary of the third Shia Imam.
Arba'een, which in Arabic means forty, falls on December 02 this year and marks 40 days after the anniversary of martyrdom of Imam Hussein (AS) the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
The pilgrims show their commitment to the Shia imam by walking tens of miles barefoot.
Iraqi forces have also tightened security to protect pilgrims against terrorist attacks ahead of the mourning rituals.
Imam Hussein and 72 of his loyal companions, including family members, were martyred on Ashura, the tenth day of the lunar month of Muharram, in the battle of Karbala against the second Umayyad caliph, Yazid I, in 680 A.D. Imam Hussein was killed after he refused to pledge allegiance to the tyrant ruler.
Imam Khomeini frequently said that the holy months of Muharram and Safar have kept Islam alive and advised preachers to promote genuine teachings of Islam during this period.
According to Imam Khomeini, Muharram is the month in which justice has raised up against cruelty while truth has confronted falsehood, and has proved that throughout history truth has always been triumphant against falsehood.
Islam has been revived by the Master of the Strugglers, Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) and the oppressed were rescued from the plots of the corrupt Bani Umayyad agents who had taken Islam to the verge of collapse. It is the blood of the Doyen of the Martyrs that inspires the Muslim nations. For the Shia school, Muharram is a month in which victory was achieved through great sacrifices.
Muharram is the month in which justice has raised up against cruelty while truth has confronted falsehood, and has proved that throughout history truth has always been triumphant against falsehood.
Muharram is the month of the great movement of the Doyen of the Martyrs and the Leader of God's Saints. By his uprising against the faghut, he taught mankind how to fight and to build. He saw that the way to destroy the despots and break the tyrants consists of sacrificing lives and this is Islam's leading instruction for all nations to the end of time.