The pilgrimage of the Arbain reveals an aspect of the greatness of the personality of Imam Hussein bin Ali (pbuh) and his lofty stature, and his position in the popular conscience of the people, as millions of believers march from all sides and directions on foot towards the tomb of Imam Hussein (pbuh) to pilgrimage him on the anniversary of the fortieth of each year.
Every year Imam Hussein's lovers and followers increase to form (the pilgrimage of Arbain) the peak of the march towards his immaculate sanctuary and his prosperous scene, to be near his spirit, approach and blessed ray, in order to be inspired by the values of justice, reform and truth, and the values of sacrifice, giving, altruism, sincerity and responsibility.
The pilgrimage of the Arbain proves the attractiveness of Imam Hussein (pbuh), as no one can gather these millions of people, with unparalleled conviction and enthusiasm, at the same time, and in one place, as Imam Hussein (pbuh) gathered them on the day of Arbain, which corresponds to the twentieth of the month of Safar of each year.
The Arbain pilgrimage to Imam Hussein (pbuh) is reflected in the deep spiritual and faith atmosphere, from which the believers derive tremendous moral energy, filled with the pleasure of worship, the sweetness of faith, and the purification and refinement of the soul, by walking not for a departed few, but for the sake of jihad of the soul, which is the greatest jihad as the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) called it.
But what we see today in the pilgrimage of the Arbain is that millions of people creep towards his honorable tomb, to declare that they are with Imam Hussein (pbuh) in his goals, values and principles, and that they are with the oppressed against the oppressor, and with the murdered against the murderer, and with the right against falsehood, and this means that Imam Hussein (pbuh) is The real victor in the battle of Karbala.
Imam Hussain (pbuh) triumphed with his martyrdom, and his enemies were defeated by their heinous crime, as they killed the tribe of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh), his soul and his lover, evil killers, but Hussein (pbuh) triumphed with his principles, values and goals, and his remembrance remained immortalized in the worlds, while his enemies reaped nothing but disappointment, shame, misery, shame in this world and painful torment in the hereafter.
The phenomenon of the million-man pilgrimage in the Arbain pilgrimage to Imam Hussein (pbuh) reflects the victory of the values, principles and goals for which Imam Hussein (pbuh) was martyred in the battle of Karbala, and also confirms that the material victory that took place in Karbala for the Umayyad army was temporary and ephemeral, while the victory of values and principles is continuous and steady, and this is confirmed by the events of Karbala and what happened afterwards, and this is the real victory.
This epic indicates the Husseini enthusiasm, which is embodied in its most beautiful form in the pilgrimage of Arbain, where the whole world watches millions of people crawl on foot towards the tomb of Imam Hussein (pbuh) out of love and adoration for those who melted in God, sacrificed for the sake of God, and gave everything for God.
With the passage of time, the Husseini issue increases glow, and its heat intensifies and never cools, and the Messenger of Allah predicted that, it was narrated from Ibn Sinan from Ja'far bin Muhammad [Al-Sadiq], peace be upon him, he said: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him and his family) looked at Al-Hussein bin Ali, peace be upon him, while he was coming, so he sat him on his lap, and said: «The killing of Hussein has heat in the hearts of the believers that never cools» (1).
And exactly what the Messenger of Allah predicted, where we notice in our time millions of people crawling in every Arbain towards the tomb of Imam Hussein (pbuh), and did not prevent them from the heat of the sun, nor bad weather, nor crimes of terrorism, but they braved all risks and difficulties with unrelenting will and determination towards visiting Imam Hussein (pbuh), and commemorating the occasion of Arbain in the most beautiful form known to humanity.
If love is what was killed, and love is what went crazy, then the love of Imam Hussein (pbuh) and his love in it all the good, and a sign of faith and success, it was reported from Imam Sadiq that he said: «Whoever God wants good threw in his heart the love of Hussein, peace be upon him, and the love of visiting him, and whoever God wanted bad threw in his heart hatred Hussein, peace be upon him, and hatred of visiting him» (2). Peace be upon him also said that he said: «Whoever did not pilgrimage the tomb of Hussein, peace be upon him, has been deprived of much good, and decreased his age of a year» (3).
The happy one who has the livelihood of the love of Imam Hussein (pbuh) and success to pilgrimage him, and the one who is truly deprived of this good, but the one who has increased the number of pilgrimages has increased the goodness a lot, so blessed are the pilgrimages and Hassan Maab.
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(1). Mustadrak means: vol. 10, p. 318, h. 12084.
(2). Full pilgrimages: 269/417, Bihar al-Anwar: vol. 98, p. 76, h. 28.
(3). Full pilgrimages: p 285 h 458, Bihar al-Anwar: c 98 p 48 h 15.