A day after millions of Shiite Muslims marked Arbaeen, the annual pilgrimage to the Hussein mosque in the Iraqi city of Karbala, the front pages of Iranian dailies on Nov. 21 carried large photos of the ceremony along with headlines comparing Arbaeen with the annual hajj pilgrimage in Mecca.
Arbaeen, meaning “40” in Arabic, takes place on the 40th day after the anniversary of the death of Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Hussein bin Ali in A.D. 680. It is the continuation of mourning that begins on Ashura, the day that marks the killing of Hussein in a battle in Karbala.
