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 13 this year and marks 40 days after the anniversary of martyrdom of Imam Hussein (AS) the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). “I am Soheila from Tanzania, Kilimanjaro. I’ve come to Arba’een of Imam Hussein. I am going to walk for three days through the spiritual journey,” said one of pilgrims carrying the flag of her country. She said she is a member of “a group of 350 people from different countries." The event has attracted more than one million from Iran. The Iranian Embassy in Iraq has announced that until December 7, some 1.1 million Iranians entered Iraq to attend the annual mourning rite. 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. The number of Arba’een pilgrims reportedly hit 20 million in 2013. Iraqi officials expect the turnout for this year’s Arba'een procession to be higher than last year’s.
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