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Assalamou Alaykoum I am hoping to walk from Najaf to Karbala this summer, and I would like to ask for any practical tips that will be very useful during this time

Assalamou Alaykoum I am hoping to walk from Najaf to Karbala this summer, and I would like to ask for any practical tips that will be very useful during this time. E.g. things i should pack, life hacks that helped you, essentials etc.

Ziyaarat al Arba'een https://youtu.be/weUSOGwNicw

people are losing day by day their hope in the return of our promisedsaviour... with a stab in all our lonely and broken heart, again a year just passed without his return A lot of people who are starting to create lots of hate towards the shia-community while we haven't done anything towards them, A lot of hate only for the skin-tone you have, or how about the pedophillia, Rape and LGBT who are starting to be seen as normal things.. And above all the world is getting ruled by the most mental-corrupt governemenst who cant deal with justice at all! I think its a shame for all our shias to stay silent while the world is starting to become a huge disguisting mess! why are we quiting talking about our living imam who is remembering us every day and prays for us! its not that we are waiting for the imam but rather the opposite! our imam is waiting for us! without any actions from us then clearly we cant expect him to return... why is it that hard to let the entire world know about ahlalbayt and imam mahdi aj? with all these technology and even 5G (in progres ) why cant we use it for usefull things like spreading shia-islam and silencing all our enemies for well! when are we all shias collecting together and taking that step against injustice just like hussain as who was an hero on the battle of karbala! or how about the speech of zeynab (عليه السلام) on the court of yazid (LA), where are the ones who claim to love the ahlalbayt? where are the ones who claim to follow the foodsteps of hussain? where are the ones who claim to misssing walking arbaeen this year? our holy imam is not abandoning us.. he walks with us, knows about our matters and helps us just like a shining sun behind the clouds, and yet we are the ones who walk away from him and leave him disapointed. lets we all make a that hype turn back again talking about his wellbeing and our closeness to him. and preparing for his return.. this world needs justice and its getting crazier day by day!! BTW Does anyone has good news about our promised saviour? did someone got good news about him? trough a dream, vission or even a small unnoticed miracle made by Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) or whatsoever?

Sallam, During Arbaeen I was listening to this beautiful Latmiyah that I found. I do not know the recitor or name of the Latmiyah... If anyone can identify this latmiyah I will personally pray for your wellbeing, because of how much I love this latmiyah, It would mean alot. In this video I'm watching the livestream on my TV, ignoring my humming lol. https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/my-drive

Assalam alaikum all, just to let those of you in the U.K know that the Arbaeen walk in London has been announced on Facebook. I would like to go to an Arbaeen walk myself, but don't think I would be able to attend this one, so I shall sit it out and wait until the 10th Day organise a date in Manchester. Still... Thought I'd pass it on incase you we're not aware.

Arbaeen Khafilah from the U.S., if anyone is interested & looking for a khafilah.

As some of you know I'm a christian who converted and still living in a christian household practicing my religion in secrecy. Before i discovered islam and before i committed I used to camp in nature and i have this photography hobby. This year i decided to tell my parents i'm going camping in the nature in our country for 6 days and in this way i managed to travel to iraq. We went me and my friend alone, we had people there in iraq who were having us as guests. The moment we went to the airport the struggling begun, we missed our plane which was in the morning, we waited the whole day for available seats but it was way too crowded. On that day, the last plane had 4 overbooked seats, basically they sold them seats which didn't exist, so Alhamdulillah they fixed us with them, we went from Lebanon to Turkey and from turkey to Najaf, we arrived to najaf at 3 am in the morning without sleep. This was on wednesday and the arbaeen is on friday. We took a cab to visit imam ali, there was a point where the taxi couldn't go further, so he dropped us and i literally started running with my bag i couldn't believe i'm miles away of My Imam. When i reached it was so overwhelming, WHAT A MYSTERY HE IS! I felt powerful that he is my leader i felt like he's right there looking at me i literally felt his presence i felt the utmost sympathy which was coming from him it felt as if i'm visiting my guardian, my protector. It was very strange and pleasant. We couldn't stay more, so we went to the house where we were staying at, we ate and we started walking from imam ali's makam to the first pole. I reached the first pole and started feeling the weakness of my body. It is worth to mention here that I'm athletic, I run since almost 4 years everyday and i do some very intense workouts (interval training, lactic acid training, fartlek training, etc). But walking is nothing like running. First of all No one told me how much it was hard to finish the 100km walk. No one told me i should get some doaa to listen to quran perhaps or latmiyat or whatever else, and all people told me it's very nice it's fun you feel the spirituality, etc... So i went there having this mentality, i wasn't mentally prepared for it. I hit the 200 pole and i seriously started questioning if i can continue or not. I called friends who reached to 950 pole and they started insisting on me that i should take a taxi and go to them. This was at maghreb prayer after 6 hours walking. After they called me several times telling me to come i started thinking if this was my case then what was the case of sayeda zeinab or roukaya or soukayna and the whole household of ahlulbayt?! The thought of me not being able to finish it ached my heart and it made me cry. I rested, my friend told me that she will carry my bag to help me and with the grace of God i started walking. With all the psychological and physical pain, suffering, sleeplessness, shivering (due to the hectic situation), swallowed feet, empty stomach, burning feet, cramps, i reached at 12.30 am to 634 pole. The thing that didn't help was the pace of my friend she was always 10-20 meters ahead of me, so there was no talking or conversations to help me forget about the pain. But she really helped by carrying my bag. So we slept at 1.30 am till 3.30 am the noise and all the snoring didn't help much. We prayed i slept 2 hours after that then continued to walk. The second day i was falling asleep when i was walking, i started having the flu with the fever and when i rested for few minutes I'd fall asleep on the chair. Nevertheless, We continued and we finished with couple of km left which i finished the second day because there were a big number of crowd, more than any other year and i didn't have the energy anymore to withstand all this crowd and walk among them. We reached the shrines of imam hussein and aba l fadel on saturday in the afternoon, we waited for couple of hours but it was all worth it, you can't exactly feel a lot of spirituality because you can't sit and focus your thoughts and get your head together. Everything was so quick. And if you want to sit for example pray talk to the imam someone comes and hits you. Of course there is special energy at every makam, you feel something different, for example when i reached the shrine of imam hussein i couldn't believe that i'm standing in front of the one and only man who's earth and skies are created due to his sacrifice. That we exist due to his sacrifice, everything we are everything we have is from Ashura. The rest of the trip took it's flow, other things happened but alhamulillah we managed everything in the end. "الأجر على قدر المشقة" It means you get rewarded as much as you tolerate pain and hardships. When i came back home, I accidentally forgot my ticket in the bag so when mom was removing the clothes to wash them she saw the ticket of course she snapped but she didn't tell my father or else he would have kicked me out of the house, it is the one and only time she didn't mention anything, because before that when she sensed that i was fasting or doing things related to religion she told my dad right away, but this time she couldn't. Everyone of us is protected by the imam of our time, he handles our matters all the time. I hope this was an inspiration to the readers and i hope everyone will experience this zyara, because after my personal experience i realized that the walk part is very essential for our Akida (creed), it is a kind of training.

Salam, Read and share this article http://www.aimislam.com/reflections-arbaeen-pilgrimage-biggest-mourning-procession/

Salam Alaykum brothers and sisters in Islam and equals in humanity. This is a poem I wrote and recorded this poem for this year's Arbaeen period. May Allah shower you all with blessings infinitely. Feedback and comments are appreciated.

Movie on Qafila e Karbala the Caravan of Pride Full movie(Urdu with Eng sub): https://youtu.be/4_tLhsJMh-A The saviour of mankind|BISKIT: https://youtu.be/PrH4ojZuItg

Movie on Qafila e Karbala the Caravan of Pride Full movie(Urdu with Eng sub): https://youtu.be/4_tLhsJMh-A The saviour of mankind|BISKIT: https://youtu.be/PrH4ojZuItg

Eight, the ziyarat of Arba`een i.e. Safar 20th: In his books Tahdhib al-Ahkam and Misbah al-Mutahajjid, Shaykh Tusi has quoted from Imam `Askari (`a) that he had said that a believer's qualities were five: a. Saying 51 rak`ats of prayer every day and night; that is, seventeen obligatory rak`ats and thirty four recommended rak`ats . Reciting the ziyarat of Arba`een c. Wearing ring in the right hand d. Putting one's forehead on earth while observing prostration (sujoud e. Saying "In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful (bismillah al-rahman al-raheem) with raised voice. The manner of the ziyarat of Imam Husayn (`a) on this day has been related in two ways: First, the ziyayat cited in Tahdhib al-Ahkam and Misbah al-Mutahajjid from Safwan al-Jammal: Safwan said that regarding the ziyarat of Arba`een his master, Imam Sadiq (`a) had told him, "Perform the ziyarat in the middle hour of the forenoon reciting:" السَّلاَمُ عَلَى وَلِيِّ اللَّهِ وَ حَبِيبِهِ السَّلاَمُ عَلَى خَلِيلِ اللَّهِ وَ نَجِيبِهِ Peace be on the favourite of Allah, His dearest darling!Peace be on the beloved friend of Allah, His distinguished hero! السَّلاَمُ عَلَى صَفِيِّ اللَّهِ وَ ابْنِ صَفِيِّهِ السَّلاَمُ عَلَى الْحُسَيْنِ الْمَظْلُومِ الشَّهِيدِ Peace be on the choicest confidant of Allah, sincerely attached precisely like his father! Peace be on Husayn, who established the true faith by giving his life in the way of Allah, a martyr, underwent untold hardships at the hand of rouges and lawbreakers! السَّلاَمُ عَلَى أَسِيرِ الْكُرُبَاتِ وَ قَتِيلِ الْعَبَرَاتِ Peace be on the hostage surrounded by the tightening circle of sorrow and grief, killed by a horde of savages. اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَشْهَدُ أَنَّهُ وَلِيُّكَ وَ ابْنُ وَلِيِّكَ وَ صَفِيُّكَ وَ ابْنُ صَفِيِّكَ الْفَائِزُ بِكَرَامَتِكَ O my Allah I give witness that beyond a shadow of doubt he is Thy favourite and choicest confidant, who enjoys Thy confidence and favour, precisely like his father! أَكْرَمْتَهُ بِالشَّهَادَةِ وَ حَبَوْتَهُ بِالسَّعَادَةِ وَ اجْتَبَيْتَهُ بِطِيبِ الْوِلاَدَةِ Thou looked upto him and elected him in Thy cause, picked and chose him for the good fortune, selected for him the best purified parents, وَ جَعَلْتَهُ سَيِّداً مِنَ السَّادَةِ وَ قَائِداً مِنَ الْقَادَةِ وَ ذَائِداً مِنَ الذَّادَةِ وَ أَعْطَيْتَهُ مَوَارِيثَ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ appointed him guardian, leader, and defender of rights, a true representative (inheritor and progenitor) of guardians, leaders and defenders of rights, gave him much and more from the inheritance of the Prophets, وَ جَعَلْتَهُ حُجَّةً عَلَى خَلْقِكَ مِنَ الْأَوْصِيَاءِ فَأَعْذَرَ فِي الدُّعَاءِ وَ مَنَحَ النُّصْحَ put him forward as a decisive argument, alongwith the other successors (of the Holy Prophet-the twelve Imaams) to the mankind. He met with deadly dangers, acted justly and fairly, made use of everything belonging to him to pay full attention to give sincere advice; وَ بَذَلَ مُهْجَتَهُ فِيكَ لِيَسْتَنْقِذَ عِبَادَكَ مِنَ الْجَهَالَةِ وَ حَيْرَةِ الضَّلاَلَةِ took pains, made every effort, and put his heart, mind, soul and life at the disposal of Thy mission to liberate the people from the yoke of ignorance and evil of bewilderment, وَ قَدْ تَوَازَرَ عَلَيْهِ مَنْ غَرَّتْهُ الدُّنْيَا وَ بَاعَ حَظَّهُ بِالْأَرْذَلِ الْأَدْنَى وَ شَرَى آخِرَتَهُ بِالثَّمَنِ الْأَوْكَسِ but an evildoer, deceived withempty hopes of mean andworthless worldly gains, had pressed heavily on him, and sold out his share (eternal bliss) for the meanest and lowest bargain, betrayed his "day of judgement" for a vulgar return, وَ تَغَطْرَسَ وَ تَرَدَّى فِي هَوَاهُ وَ أَسْخَطَكَ وَ أَسْخَطَ نَبِيَّكَ took pride in insolence, fell into the fathomwell of silly stupid follies, provoked Thee and Thy Prophet to anger, وَ أَطَاعَ مِنْ عِبَادِكَ أَهْلَ الشِّقَاقِ وَ النِّفَاقِ وَ حَمَلَةَ الْأَوْزَارِ الْمُسْتَوْجِبِينَ النَّارَ (لِلنَّارِ) did as the harsh discordant, the hypocrite, the heavily burdened bearers of sin, condemned to Hellfire, advised to him, فَجَاهَدَهُمْ فِيكَ صَابِراً مُحْتَسِباً حَتَّى سُفِكَ فِي طَاعَتِكَ دَمُهُ وَ اسْتُبِيحَ حَرِيمُهُ however, he (the Holy Imam), steadily, rightly and justly coped with them, till, in Thy obedience, gave his life after which his family was set adrift. اللَّهُمَّ فَالْعَنْهُمْ لَعْناً وَبِيلاً وَ عَذِّبْهُمْ عَذَاباً أَلِيماً O my Allah, therefore, condemn them to hell as a denunciation and conviction; and crack down on them with a painful punishment. السَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكَ يَا ابْنَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ السَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكَ يَا ابْنَ سَيِّدِ الْأَوْصِيَاءِ Peace be on you O the son of the Messenger of Allah! Peace be on you O the son of the first of the successors (of the Holy Prophet)! أَشْهَدُ أَنَّكَ أَمِينُ اللَّهِ وَ ابْنُ أَمِينِهِ عِشْتَ سَعِيداً وَ مَضَيْتَ حَمِيداً وَ مُتَّ فَقِيداً مَظْلُوماً شَهِيداً I bear witness that Allah put faith in you like He had full confidence in your father, and that you always looked for and collected good and virtue, lived a highly praiseworthy life, and departed from this world a martyr, forsaken and abused; وَ أَشْهَدُ أَنَّ اللَّهَ مُنْجِزٌ مَا وَعَدَكَ وَ مُهْلِكٌ مَنْ خَذَلَكَ وَ مُعَذِّبٌ مَنْ قَتَلَكَ I bear witness that Allah will promptly fulfil the promise He made to you, and destroy those who left you helpless and punish those who killed you; وَ أَشْهَدُ أَنَّكَ وَفَيْتَ بِعَهْدِ اللَّهِ وَ جَاهَدْتَ فِي سَبِيلِهِ حَتَّى أَتَاكَ الْيَقِينُ I bear witness that you kept your promise made with Allah, and strived in His way till what was certain came upon you, فَلَعَنَ اللَّهُ مَنْ قَتَلَكَ وَ لَعَنَ اللَّهُ مَنْ ظَلَمَكَ وَ لَعَنَ اللَّهُ أُمَّةً سَمِعَتْ بِذَلِكَ فَرَضِيَتْ بِهِ so curse of Allah be on those who killed you, curse of Allah be on those who oppressed you, curse of Allah be on the people who came to know and approved (of it all). اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أُشْهِدُكَ أَنِّي وَلِيٌّ لِمَنْ وَالاَهُ وَ عَدُوٌّ لِمَنْ عَادَاهُ O my Allah be my witness that I make friends with those who love him and oppose those who deny him. بِأَبِي أَنْتَ وَ أُمِّي يَا ابْنَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ أَشْهَدُ أَنَّكَ كُنْتَ نُوراً فِي الْأَصْلاَبِ الشَّامِخَةِ وَ الْأَرْحَامِ الْمُطَهَّرَةِ (الطَّاهِرَةِ) I, my father and mother, are at your disposal O the son of the Messenger of Allah. I know and bear witness that you were "light" in the sublime loins and in the pure wombs, لَمْ تُنَجِّسْكَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةُ بِأَنْجَاسِهَا وَ لَمْ تُلْبِسْكَ الْمُدْلَهِمَّاتُ مِنْ ثِيَابِهَا never touched you the dirt of ignorance, nor ever obscurity concealed you in its folds; وَ أَشْهَدُ أَنَّكَ مِنْ دَعَائِمِ الدِّينِ وَ أَرْكَانِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ وَ مَعْقِلِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ I bear witness that you are the pillar of "Deen", support of the Muslims, refuge of the faithfuls; وَ أَشْهَدُ أَنَّكَ الْإِمَامُ الْبَرُّ التَّقِيُّ الرَّضِيُّ الزَّكِيُّ الْهَادِي الْمَهْدِيُ I bear witness that you are a truthful, well-aware, content, intelligent, rightly guided guide (Imam); وَ أَشْهَدُ أَنَّ الْأَئِمَّةَ مِنْ وُلْدِكَ كَلِمَةُ التَّقْوَى وَ أَعْلاَمُ الْهُدَى وَ الْعُرْوَةُ الْوُثْقَى وَ الْحُجَّةُ عَلَى أَهْلِ الدُّنْيَا I bear witness that the Imams among your descendants are the symbols of "conscious piety" and signs of "true guidance", the "safe handle"-Islam, and the decisive arguments over mankind; وَ أَشْهَدُ أَنِّي بِكُمْ مُؤْمِنٌ وَ بِإِيَابِكُمْ مُوقِنٌ بِشَرَائِعِ دِينِي وَ خَوَاتِيمِ عَمَلِي I declare positively that I have full faith in you, and I know for certain that you shall return. I am, fully committed to the laws of my religion, certainof my deeds, وَ قَلْبِي لِقَلْبِكُمْ سِلْمٌ وَ أَمْرِي لِأَمْرِكُمْ مُتَّبِعٌ وَ نُصْرَتِي لَكُمْ مُعَدَّةٌ حَتَّى يَأْذَنَ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ my mind and heart ready for your return, and my affairs carried out in the light of your instructions, till Allah gives you permission, فَمَعَكُمْ مَعَكُمْ لاَ مَعَ عَدُوِّكُمْ together with you, along with you, not at the same time with your enemies. صَلَوَاتُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ وَ عَلَى أَرْوَاحِكُمْ وَ أَجْسَادِكُمْ (أَجْسَامِكُمْ) Blessings of Allah be on you, on your souls, on your bodies, وَ شَاهِدِكُمْ وَ غَائِبِكُمْ وَ ظَاهِرِكُمْ وَ بَاطِنِكُمْ آمِينَ رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ when you are visible, when you are invisible, on your percievable aspects, on your innermost genius, be it so, O Lord of the worlds! Then say two rak`ats of prayer, and pray for what you wish, after that go back.

It is the ardent desire of every Shia to visit the Holy shrines of their immaculate Imam (a.s.). Most of us had that opportunity before and will visit them again, Insha Allah while there are many who will go to them soon. Making your presence in front of them requires more of a sincerity, love and passion alongwith recognition of their rights. Arbae'en is near and it is the best opportunity for each one of us to call out labbaik. Those yearning for the Ziyarat of Ab'a Abdillah should take a step ahead and start with preparations, as in: Do I have my passport ready? Is it nearing expiry? Procedure for obtaining visa (Tour operator will take care if you are going with Qafela) Applying for leaves in office in advance. What about my finances? If it is less, how can I arrange extra amount? Which tour operators should I go with? Any other obstacles/hurdles, etc. Please note this thread is not for debating on any particular aspect or method or rewards of Ziyarat but a means to get ourselves prepared for it. The rewards and merits of Ziyarat of Imam Hussain (a.s.) is much more than can be outlined here. I'll mention but a few traditions to get an overview of it's great virtue, in the next post. You are welcome to present ahadith and how are you going to take part in Arbae'en this year.

Dear Friends Why the mainstream media do not broadcast of "Arbaeen marsh" in Iraq? This is the most populous human walking of the world and it has the news value. Thanks beforehand.

This is my dream. Who is with me? Theoretically, how would one go about doing this?

Ayatollah Khamenei: Arbaeen is not only for Shi'as, it also belongs to Sunnis this year, the millions of people who were brought together on Arbaeen. This great movement was preformed by a group of Muslims—it was not only for Shias, Sunnis had joined in, too—and it’s reflection stretched throughout the world; everyone bowed down before this event, for they admired it. They called it the greatest gathering of the world. Who called it so? Those who follow the issues of the Muslim world. . This Arbaeen of Karbala is an astonishing event. The enemies of Islam and Ahlul Bayt vainly thought that they had blocked the path of Muslims. Notice what a great movement was launched. When even bodies stay together, it has such a reflection. If we stay together, if Islamic governments and Muslim nations - whether Shia or Sunni or different denominations of Shia and Sunni - are honest with one another, if they are not suspicious of one another, if they do not insult and have malevolent intentions against one another, notice what will happen in the world and what great dignity will be brought about for Islam. Unity, unity! http://english.khamenei.ir/news/4309/Arbaeen-is-not-only-for-Shi-as-it-also-belongs-to-Sunnis-Ayatollah

Arba’een or the fortieth, marks the passage of forty days after the martyrdom of Imam Husayn (as) – the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (s) and his seventy two friends and family, in the plains of Karbala. The fortieth day after the demise of someone, is observed, particularly by Muslims from the Shi’a school of thought. In Iran which the majority is Shi’a, the fortieth day after the death of a beloved one is commemorated as much as the first anniversaries. The forty days are calculated from the burial night which should normally take place within 24 hours of death. In Iran it is an observed tradition to reduce these forty nights by the numbers of the children of the deceased person. After forty days, people usually come out of their dark mourning clothes. Relatives and friends out of respect to the grieving family get together and bring gifts, new bright colour items of clothing to each member of the grieving family, by doing so the grieving family are asked to come out of the state of mourning and sadness. This tradition in fact has two functions. Firstly it will ease the situation for the friends of the grieving family, helping them to go back to their normal life. On the other hand, as the grieving family are asked to take their dark (black) mourning clothes off and replace them with bright new garments, they found themselves, obliged to accept it, as it is a request from their friends and relatives. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish whether in fact a tradition starts on the basis of a manmade culture or whether it is originated from a prophetic tradition. In general performing or arranging Tarhim (mourning ceremonies) or even shedding tears at the loss of a beloved one, is to remind us of his/ her good deeds or even to give charity on their behalf. This is one of the practices not much disputed among the Muslim scholars. Remembrance rituals are sometimes considered to be Mustahab (recommended) especially if the dead person is a person of knowledge. Some scholars believe that mourning in the way that makes sadness is not permitted, but narrations from Prophet and Pure Imams give us a different view. There is no indication that Prophet Muhammad (s) had ever stopped or disagreed with his followers to mourn or lament for their loved ones. On the contrary, it is said when Hamza (the Prophet’s uncle) was martyred, there were no one to cry over him. Prophet Muhammad (s) addressed the ladies who were crying over their men and told them: “does my uncle Hamza have anyone to cry over him too?” Another time when the Prophet (s) heard about the death of his cousin Jafar, he cried and mourned and asked others to do the same. He also mourned over the death of Um-ul- Momenin Khadija (a) and his uncle Abu Taleb. http://www.islamportal.net/article/what-arbaeen

time to eradicate false practices

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hello I need some details about big camp or moukeb (resting place with especial facilities and services for zawwar(pligrims) Imam Hussein "AS") which country build and manage them? which sevices their provide? (food,rest,cultural activity ,...) where are they placed? (pole number) Labbayk Ya Hussein

Assalam, I heard that we can get on arrival visa's in Baghdad specifically just for arbaeen. Does anyone know about this?

Salam Alaykum Insha Allah I am planning to pay another visit to Iraq during Ashura or Arbaeen this year Request if any one can help in finding a caravan from India to Iraq during these periods One can mail me on my email adress: lubnana@homail.com Thanks

Arba'een is consistently among the largest peaceful gatherings in history. The city of Karbala in Iraq is the center of the proceedings which many pilgrims travel miles on foot to reach. The distance between Basra and Karbala is a long journey even by car, but it is traveled annually on foot by Iraqi pilgrims, which takes them two weeks, or approximately one month to come from other countries like Iran. The crowds become so massive that they cause a blockade for hundreds of miles. In 2008, approximately nine million religious observers converged on Karbala to commemorate Arba’een. However, in 2009, the number of people visiting Karbala on Arba'een significantly increased. According to BBC News and Press TV, over ten million people had reached Karbala one or two days before Arba'een. The number of pilgrims was expected to rise to 18 million during the next two days. In 2013, Arbaeen reached 20 million people from 40 countries. A car bomb targeting worshippers returning from Karbala killed at least 20 Shiite pilgrims in January 2013. In 2014, up to 17 million people made the pilgrimage and many choose to make the 55-mile journey on foot from Najaf, near areas controlled by the militant Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which has declared Shia Muslimsapostates. There were no reports of major incidents at 2014's Arba'een, which was considered a success against ISIL by thegovernor of Karbala, Akeel al-Turaihi.