RNA – Speaking to Rasa News Agency, Hujjat al-Islam Sayyed Hashem Bathaei, a seminary and university professor said that for every person who dies, he is given forty days and on the fortieth day after his death, the soul returns to visit his body but the Arbaeen of Imam Husayn has one specific property.
He continued, saying that when the name of Arbaeen is referred to, everyone understands that it refers to the fortieth day after the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Husayn and that this movement originates from the Ahlul-Bayt and their loyal companions, such as Jabir ibn Abdullah al-Ansari and Atiyyah ibn Awfi.
“Over the centuries, this ceremony has continued, but in recent years, the event has been performed very differently,” he said.
Hujjat al-Islam Bathaei explained that the Arbaeen pilgrimage to the holy Iraqi city of Karbala is made up of devotional, political and intellectual aspects and that the pilgrimage has great effects, both in Iran, Iraq and throughout the world.
On Arbaeen, the Shi’ite faithful traditionally walk for several days or longer to reach Karbala where crowds chant and march around the Holy Shrine of Imam Husayn.
“The people of the Islamic Republic of Iran have a close relationship with the Ahlul-Bayt although unfortunately, some peoples’ relationship with God is weak, but this pilgrimage creates motivation and awareness among the people and if one’s acts of worship were during the year, during Arba’in one becomes closer to God Almighty,” he said.
Referring to the international effects of the Arbaeen pilgrimage, the Iranian scholar said that the West and their Salafist allies in the Persian Gulf, of which Saudi Arabia is leader of, spend their petrodollars on creating destruction, insecurity and harassment, but the Islamic Republic of Iran has engaged in a spiritual movement and its glory throughout the world has brought tranquility despite what is happening in the world.
He added that the West propagates Islamophobia in order to show Islam as a violent and inhumane religion but the Arbaeen pilgrimage shows the world that Islam is a merciful and comprehensible religion.
“Along the routes to Karbala, we witness men and women pilgrims are welcomed with kindness,” the cleric added.
Hujjat al-Islam Bathaei emphasized that the Arba’in walk is a form of revolution and a renaissance in the region, saying that although Makkah is the centre of the Islamic world, the Islamic Republic of Iran will be the leader of the Islamic world and the Arba’in pilgrimage has destroyed much of sedition that the West has introduced in the Islamic world.
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