It is almost as if Sabiha Fathima is back on the road, walking from Najaf to Karbala, as she narrates her experience of the journey. Tears well up in her eyes and her voice cracks as she describes the love with which local Iraqis received the pilgrims participating in the world’s largest religious gathering last month. “At one house a four-year-old girl received us and gave us water,” Fathima says.
The 80 km walk takes three days to complete and it would be hard without the selfless hospitality extended all along the route by the local villagers. This year, the hajj to Mecca in Saudi Arabia saw close to two million pilgrims. Karbala reportedly saw 10 times that number.
The walk is undertaken every year to mark the occasion of Arbaeen. Arbaeen signifies the end of the 40-day mourning period for Imam Hussain, the grandson of Prophet Mohammed, who was killed with his family in the battle of Karbala (circa 680 A.D.). “Walking with over 20 million people towards the shrine of Imam Hussain and his brother Abbas, from the shrine of their father Imam Ali in Najaf, is the experience of a lifetime,” says Fathima. The route is roughly divided into three sections: one for walkers, another for food, and a third for vehicles and security convoys. Food and sleeping arrangements, showers, washrooms, doctors on call, and even massage centres are available throughout the journey. Most of these are organised by local Iraqis, with their own money, as there is no funding of any sort.
“Locals convert their homes into rest-stops with bedding and food,” says Fathima, describing a biting cold night when her group was approached by a young man who led them to a comfortable home for the night.
Besides the local people, pilgrims too set up food stalls along the way. For example, a group from Mumbai this year served vada pav and tea. “It was an instant hit with the weary pilgrims,” Fathima recalls with a smile. “The Indian chai was a welcome change from the black tea.”
Sects, conflicts, and religious fault lines are forgotten as millions of worshippers march shoulder to shoulder. It’s not just Shia Muslims but Muslims from other sects and Christians too who undertake the journey. “Everyone is welcome and it is a great lesson in humanity,” says Fathima.
This year, the pilgrimage took place under the looming threat of violence from the Islamic State (IS), which considers Shi’ite Muslims heretics and has vowed to carry out attacks in Karbala and Najaf. The entire route was under tight security with several convoys accompanying the pilgrims. Despite that, more than 70 Shi’ite pilgrims were killed 100 kilometres south of Baghdad immediately after Arbaeen. “The blast took place about half-an-hour after our group had passed the area.”
The Iraqi government’s security measures, however, were enough to keep pilgrims more or less safe.
When Fathima laid eyes on the glistening golden dome of the shrine of Abbas at the end of her journey, she says, “All pain and fatigue were forgotten. All that we could feel was elation and tears began to stream down our faces. We had arrived, and Arbaeen was upon us.”
ali.khan@thehindu.co.in
