At the centre of Arbaeen stands one person. To understand why twenty million people would walk across a desert for him, you first have to meet him.
Family
Imam Hussain was the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, born in 626 CE. His father was Imam Ali, the Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law; his mother was Fatima, the Prophet’s beloved daughter. He was raised, in other words, in the very heart of the household that Muslims call the Ahlul Bayt — the family of the Prophet.
Character
Those who knew him remembered a man of deep dignity, gentleness and courage. He was known for his generosity to the poor and his refusal to flatter the powerful. To this day he is called Sayyid al-Shuhada — the master of martyrs — and, more simply, a symbol of conscience.
The choice
Decades after the Prophet’s death, a ruler named Yazid demanded that Hussain publicly pledge allegiance to him — an endorsement of a regime Hussain saw as unjust and corrupt. Hussain refused. He would not lend his name, and the name of his grandfather, to tyranny. That refusal set in motion the events of Karbala.
Why he is loved
People do not walk to Karbala because Hussain won a battle — in worldly terms, he did not. They walk because of what he refused to surrender: truth, dignity, and principle, even at the cost of everything. That is a message that reaches far beyond any one faith. Read next: why millions make the walk.