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| Arba’een 2018, showing the path of pilgrims coming from Najaf to Karbala. Photo taken by the author’s family during their pilgrimage |
Arba’een, the
immense annual gathering in Karbala, Iraq, got my attention after I read Sayed
M. Modarresi’s Huffington Post article,
“World’s Biggest Pilgrimage Now Underway, and Why You’ve Never Heard of It!”
After researching it, I knew Arba’een was something that I must experience
firsthand.
As the
founder and president of Peace
Worldwide Organization, I could not get the idea off my mind. In the US, we
cannot have a concert with a few thousand attendees without some trouble. How
in the world was it possible for millions of people to get together so lovingly
and peacefully?
Finally, I
took the journey. My experience with Arba’een opened my eyes to many
possibilities to achieve global peace. I had never encountered such
hospitality, love and generosity in my life. Although it was held in Iraq under
the threat of terrorism, I spotted pilgrims from across the world eagerly
participating. I was touched by the display of faith in humanity, the likes of
which I had never seen anywhere else.
A multicultural gathering
Although it
was originally initiated by Shi’a Muslims as a spiritual reawakening, I
witnessed that Arba’een brought people together from all walks of life. It was
a true representation of all people in the world. The participants included not
just Shi’as but Sunnis, Ibadis, Christians, Jews, Hindus, Yazidis and
Zoroastrians. There, we were all united in purpose and welcomed with the utmost
respect, regardless of religion, culture, ethnicity, gender or race.
Four years
earlier, I had participated in the annual Islamic Hajj pilgrimage. In Karbala,
I noticed the much greater crowds; Arba’een attracts five
or more times more people than the Hajj. In contrast to the Hajj, which is
riddled with accidents
and troubles, my experience with the Arba’een event was peaceful. While the
Hajj consists exclusively of Muslims, Arba’een breaks across identity barriers.
Arba’een is truly unique.
As I had
read, it was embellished with the longest continuous free dining table with a
variety of foods and personal sleep accommodations. Iraqis were stationed
throughout the path of pilgrims to wash feet and massage feet, backs, shoulders
and necks. Clinics and doctors were available to treat pilgrims. All amenities,
down to baby diapers, were furnished free. All services, including the tight
security, were provided by volunteers. None of these were paid for by any
government or corporation. They were all offered by Iraqis and others who had
been saving for a year to serve pilgrims with pure love and compassion. They
expected no pay; rather, they felt honored when we accepted their offerings or
lodging.
On my
journey, I was told that among the servers were the Iraqi Prime Minister Adil
Abdul-Mahdi and the Chinese Ambassador along with his wife. I wondered why US
officials were absent, especially when the US was generally unpopular in the
region and had the largest embassy and military presence in the country. It
would have been a great PR opportunity.
Arba’een
rarely makes headlines, but when it does, it gives hope to humanity that
universal peace is realizable.
Arba’een
memorializes the end of the 40-day mourning period for the brutal 7th-century
killing of al-Husayn (Husayn), the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson and third Shia
Imam. His murder at the hands of the wicked Umayyad Caliph Yazid made him a
martyr standing up against injustice. The event left an indelible mark on
Islamic history.
As Modarresi
says, Husayn’s “legend encourages, inspires, and champions change for the
better, and no amount of media blackout can extinguish its light.”
For me, Arba’een was a
life-changing experience
Starting in
2014, ISIS freely roamed much of Iraq and committed atrocities that shocked the
world. Armed with weapons and vehicles of Western manufacture, ISIS tortured
suspects, raped women and girls, robbed, enslaved, used child soldiers and
carried out genocide.
I read
Modarresi’s article
in 2015 and learned that millions of people from all over the world ignored
ISIS to attend Arba’een. ISIS, which takes an extreme anti-Shi’a stance,
attempted to menace pilgrims into skipping Arba’een. The threat encouraged even
more participation in defiance, a courageous audacity rarely seen anywhere
around the world.
To the
pilgrims, Husayn typifies the man who is spiritually connected to Allah, the
Source of all things, which enables him to stand firmly against despotism and
never submit to oppression or persecution. Husayn did so even though it cost
him his own life and those of his brothers, sons and other loved ones.
To me,
Arba’een appeared to be a truer representation of cross-cultural participation
and cohesiveness than even the United Nations. Like other political entities,
the UN is riddled with favoritism and corruption. Unlike in the UN, all people
are treated with equal respect in Arba’een.
For days,
nights, weeks and months, I was preoccupied. Something deep inside me urged me
to participate. I wanted to be a part of it. I needed to see it for myself and
experience the event known to millions. I felt a strong zeal to take the
journey, despite the imminent threat of ISIS against the pilgrims. I became
excited and eager knowing there was a purpose.
With ISIS
controlling much of Iraq, my family was adamantly against me traveling in the
Middle East, especially within Iraq. I was compelled to delay my journey.
Thanks to Qassem
Soleimani, Iran’s late top general, things have since changed for the
better in the region. In mid-2018, Iraq gathered strength with assistance from
Iran and Russia to push ISIS out of Iraq. On the ground with Russian air
support, Iraqi special forces led by Soleimani and Iraqi militia commander Abu
Mahdi al-Muhandis soundly defeated
ISIS. That brave action gave me an opportunity to convince my family to let me
participate in Arba’een. I assured them that I would be careful traveling
there. Knowing how badly I wanted to go there, they reluctantly agreed.
In 2018,
Arba’een was at the end of October. I was astonished. The journey exceeded all
my expectations; every moment was breathtaking. I stayed in Iraq for 12 days,
and it cost me not even a dime for food. My lodging would also have been
totally free, but I chose to stay a few nights in nice hotels to reflect. The
hotels were around $20 a night.
Step by step,
side by side, I marched all 50 miles of the way on foot over three days,
alongside millions of other pilgrims. The journey began at the mausoleum of Ali
in the holy city of Najaf and terminated at Husayn’s mausoleum in the holy city
of Karbala.
As I looked
over my shoulder, I saw children in the arms of their mothers and young men
assisting the women and elderly in their quest to make the journey. I saw folks
with canes and crutches taking each intentional step forward. I found the
weakened, aged or disabled rolling in wheelchairs as persistent and committed
as those of us on foot beside them. There were no divides or differences.
There, we were all one.
There was
only hope in their eyes and love in their heart as the people moved beside me.
Often, I would find myself interrupted in thought, taking in each individual,
making individual picture frame memories of their faces, with the various Iraqi
citizens lining the trail motioning to give us water and food or guiding us
along the path. I could feel the energy pulsating throughout my body, my mind,
my soul—the frequency around me was vibrating, unconditional, pure,
wholehearted love.
It was with
this powerful frequency that I then took each individual step. All of this
beautiful, loving energy made what could otherwise be characterized as a
marathon feel like a walk in the park. I had very little on me except for a
backpack of clothes, yet I felt fully abundant.
I had never
seen generosity to that extent in my whole life. Various kinds of food and
comfortable lodging were freely available along the path everywhere. I was
astonished to see that even the poorest Iraqis traveled on foot for days to get
there, simply to offer the pilgrims dates here and there.
Heaven on Earth
I thought to
myself: If Iraqis could continue that spirit for the rest of the year by
treating one another with the same compassion and love, Iraq would once again
be the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:8), a place of happiness and peace. Imagine
what the world could be if we existed in this nature daily as well.
The
instantaneous coming together of millions of people from across the world in
Arba’een must be of Heavenly inspiration. It is equally magical how Iraqis work
together providing the pilgrims safety and security along with free food,
lodging and other services. As Oregon’s Southminster Presbyterian Church Pastor
John Shuck described
it, “… it is a divine interplay of an unchoreographed dance of love.”
In my
journey, I learned that millions of the pilgrims began their journey on foot
from Iran, Kuwait, Syria and Lebanon, along with cities in Iraq and the Gulf
Arab States, towards Karbala. For days, young and old traveled miles through mountainous
and rocky trails in the burning sun of the day and the freezing cold of the
night to reach the holy city. Regardless of where they came from, they all
simply wanted to connect to Allah and live in harmony and peace. To accomplish
these noble goals, they knew that a level of unrelenting self-will,
accountability, good nature, kindness and endurance was required to win over
oppression and persecution.
Husayn gave
us many examples of courage in his stand against tyranny and injustice. Many of
his quotes can be heard across the world, even if few are aware of the source
of them. Over 1300 years ago, before he was viciously murdered, he said,
“Death with dignity is better than a life in humiliation.”
More than
ever, I am now convinced that we can all learn a lot from religion in pursuit
of harmony and peace. Religion is not inherently good or bad. It can be used as
a positive force or abused for personal gain. The event of Arba’een symbolizes
a religious occasion that annually brings the largest number of people from
across the world together in the hope of promoting compassion, love, harmony and
peace.
My journey was exceptional. My life’s dream of unity and peace was realized in my travels. I watched people who were amazingly liberated from fear, judgment and the desire for control and power. I saw them all sharing their basic needs with strangers. I learned that the vision of the coming together of people from all walks of life united for the pursuit of compassion, love and peace ALREADY exists. Now, I can imagine an entire world through this vision, where I paint a picture in my mind as I lead the Peace Worldwide Organization and write about history, philosophy, politics, religion and spirituality.
BY MEHDI ALAVI
This article was originally published in Fair Observer on August 28, 2023.
