Arbaeen in Pakistan, 2020
Seyyedeh Nakhat Razavi*
Translated by: Zahra Hosseinian
2020-10-21
Arba’een[1] had a different spirit in our country this year, because it coincided with a sharp difference between Shiites and some Salafis[2].
Pakistani clerics insisted that all Shiites attend the gathering, because a few weeks ago, a number of Wahhabis and Salafis marched for three days to honor some of the Companions of the Prophet, as well as Yazid, and insulted the infallible and pure Ahl al-Bayt. They also threw stones at one of the city's Husseiniyahs, chanting slogans such as the Shiites are infidels, and threatening to kill Shiite scholars; they also insult to a flag-like object attributed to Hazrat Abbas (PBUH). Under this condition, Shiite scholars insisted that all Shiites attend the Arba’een gathering.
Praise be to God, people did not stay at home this year and everyone came to Arba’een ceremony. People arrived at the ceremony on foot or by vehicle from everywhere. Shiite scholars were also present in shrouds and ready to be martyred, and this was a strong slap on the face of Wahhabis and Takfiris. On the path where people was walking towards the place of ceremony, several Moukebs[3] were set up and the people was served with food, fruit and drink.
Everyone was present at the gathering; old and young; man and woman, girl and boy; even infants.
In the 73-years history of Karachi, this number of people had never participated in Arba’een ceremony.
Each year, the gathering begins at the old Shah Najaf Husseiniyah in Karachi and ends in a district called Guromander. There are people in this district who consider themselves members of the Bani Assad tribe. Every year, these people make symbolic coffins for Imam Hussein (AS), Hazrat Ali Akbar (AS), Hazrat Qasim (AS) and Hazrat Abbas (AS) and turned them at the ceremony.
* Expert in Quranic and Hadith sciences from Al-Mustafa International University
[1]. Arbaʽeen (Arabic: الأربعین, Romanized: al-Arba‘īn, lit. 'Forty'), Chehellom (Persian: چهلم, "the fortieth day") is a religious observance that occurs forty days after the Day of Ashura. It commemorates the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad, who was martyred on the 10th day of the month of Muharram. Imam Husayn ibn Ali and 71 of his companions were martyred by Yazid L.A's army in the Battle of Karbala in 61 AH (680 CE).
[2]. The Salafi movement, also called the Salafist movement, Salafiya and Salafism, is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that developed in Al-Azhar University in Egypt in the late 19th century as a response to Western European imperialism.
[3]. It is a term used for referring to a kind of rest-area in where pilgrims of holy places or accompanying groups will be served for accommodation and feeding.
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