Meaning, History, and the Walk
What Is Arbaeen?
Arbaeen means “forty”. It marks the 40th day after Ashura, the day Imam Hussain ibn Ali (AS), the grandson of Prophet Muhammad, was martyred in Karbala in 680 CE.
The meaning of Arbaeen
In the Islamic calendar, Arbaeen falls on the 20th of Safar, forty days after Ashura. For Shia Muslims — and for many others who honour Imam Hussain’s stand for truth and justice — it is a day of remembrance and renewal. Every year, millions travel to Karbala in Iraq, many walking the roughly 80 km from Najaf in what has become one of the largest peaceful gatherings on earth.
Ashura and Karbala
On the 10th of Muharram in 61 AH (680 CE) — the day known as Ashura — Imam Hussain (AS) and 72 of his closest companions and family members were killed on the plains of Karbala by the forces of the Umayyad caliph Yazid ibn Muawiyah. Among the fallen were his brother and standard-bearer Abbas ibn Ali, his sons, and even his infant child Abdullah (Ali al-Asghar).
Hussain had refused to give his allegiance to a ruler he saw as destroying the essence of his grandfather’s message. Cut off from water for three days and vastly outnumbered, he chose death with dignity over life in humiliation.
A stand that still calls the conscience of humanity
Karbala is remembered not simply as a tragedy, but as a moral horizon: truth before comfort, dignity before submission, and sacrifice before silence. Imam Hussain declared that he rose “to seek reform in the nation of my grandfather — to enjoin what is good and forbid what is evil.” That declaration has echoed for fourteen centuries.
Karbala is not only a place in history. It is a question each generation must answer.
The captives and the first ziyarah
After the massacre, the women and children of the Prophet’s household — led by Sayyida Zaynab (SA) and the ailing Imam Ali ibn al-Hussain, Zayn al-Abidin (AS) — were taken captive and marched to Kufa and then Damascus. Their sermons in the courts of the oppressors turned a military defeat into a moral victory that could never be silenced.
Tradition holds that on the first Arbaeen, the family returned to Karbala to mourn at the graves, and that Jabir ibn Abdullah al-Ansari — an elderly companion of the Prophet — became one of the first pilgrims to visit the grave of Imam Hussain. Every pilgrim since walks in their footsteps.
Why pilgrims walk today
The walk from Najaf to Karbala is a moving act of remembrance: grief for what happened, love for the family of the Prophet, gratitude for the lesson, and a promise to carry it forward. Along the way, an unmatched culture of service flourishes — hundreds of mawakib (volunteer camps) feed, shelter, and care for pilgrims entirely for free.
Explore the Mawakib Line to see 822 real camps indexed along the route, or read the benefits of ziyarah.
Frequently asked questions
When is Arbaeen?
Arbaeen falls on 20 Safar, 40 days after Ashura (10 Muharram). The Gregorian date shifts roughly 11 days earlier each year and may vary by moon sighting.
What is Ziyarat Arbaeen?
A salutation traditionally recited on the day of Arbaeen addressing Imam Hussain (AS), bearing witness that he gave his life “to save people from ignorance and the confusion of misguidance.” It is narrated as one of the marks of a believer.
How many people attend?
Official annual estimates have exceeded twenty million visitors to Karbala during the Arbaeen season in recent years, making it one of the largest annual gatherings anywhere in the world.
Next: Benefits of Ziyarah What the narrations promise those who visit Imam Hussain (AS)