Arbaeen marks the anniversary of the 40th day after the battle of Karbala on Ashura in which Imam Hussein (AS) and 72 of his companions were martyred.
This year, some 19 million Shia Muslims gathered in the holy city of Karbala on Arbaeen (Thursday, January 3), the encyclopedia wrote, noting that the number of pilgrims last year amounted to 15 million.
It also said that the number was between 10 to 14 million pilgrims in the years 2009 and 2010.
Many people from cities of Iraq go to Karbala on foot to be in the city on the day of Arbaeen as a gesture of sympathy with the batch of the Ahl-ul-Bayt (AS) prisoners who were forced by the army of Yazid to go on foot to Karbala from Levant (Syria) after the event of Ashura.
Many foreign Shia Muslims have also joined the Iraqi pilgrims every year since the fall of Saddam Hussein.
source : http://abna.ir
