Last Updated on 26/08/2024 by Ankita
This year 2.1 crore Shia Muslims attended Chehlum, celebrated in the memory of Imam Hussain in Karbala, Iraq. Chehlum is one of the biggest religious gatherings in the world in which Shia Muslims participate. Shia Muslims are in majority in Iraq and Iran. Crores of Shia Muslims have also shown their support for Gaza by gathering in Karbala on Sunday.
Chehlum is also called Aebaeen which means forty in Arabic. Chehlum is celebrated every year on the 40th day of the martyrdom of Imam Hussain, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad and founder of Shia Islam, and the martyrs of Karbala.
In Karbala, Hussein and his brother Abbas are buried in two huge tombs facing each other and hence the place is considered one of the holiest places for Shia Muslims.
Shia Muslims gather at Karbala and torment themselves in memory of Hussein, who was killed in a battle at Karbala by the Umayyad caliph Yazid in 680.
Photographers of the news agency AFP reported that Shia Muslims are waving Palestinian flags in large numbers in Karbala in this year’s event. Palestinians living in Gaza are currently facing Israeli attacks, in support of which Shia Muslims are waving Palestinian flags.
How many Shia Muslims reached Karbala
“The total number of Arbaeen pilgrims… has reached 21,480,525,” the organisation that manages Abbas’s mausoleum and keeps track of the count of Shia Muslims visiting Karbala said.
According to Iran’s official figures, there are around 35 lakh Iranian pilgrims among them.
“We are waving Palestinian flags in support of our Palestinian brothers and sisters and we all stand together against Israel’s crimes in Gaza,” 32-year-old pilgrim Mohammed al-Tamimi told AFP TV.
According to official figures, 2.2 crore Shia Muslims attended Arbaeen last year, which was held under tight security. Among them, the highest number of foreign Muslims, 40 lakh, came from Iran.
Thousands of Palestinians are being killed in the Israel-Hamas war
On October 7 last year, Hamas, the Palestinian organization that controls Gaza, suddenly attacked Israel, killing 1,199 people.
After this, Israel started retaliatory action in Gaza which is still continuing. At least 40,405 people have died in Gaza in the Israeli attack. Most of the dead are women and children.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)