Arba'in

Arba'in (Arabic: الأربعين, lit.'fortieth'; also spelled Arba'een) marks forty days after Ashura, which is the martyrdom anniversary of Husayn ibn Ali, grandson of the Islamic prophetMuhammad and the third Shia Imam. Every year, on the twentieth of Safar, millions of pilgrims flock to Karbala in Iraq. Up to 40 million visit the city during Arba'in, the largest annual public gathering on earth. Most of the pilgrims travel on foot and come from all around Iraq and nearly 60 countries.

On this day in 61 AH (680 CE), Husayn was martyred, alongside most of his relatives and his small retinue, in the Battle of Karbala by the army of the Umayyad caliphYazid. Husayn's suffering and martyrdom became a symbol of sacrifice in the struggle for right against wrong, and for justice and truth against injustice and falsehood. He is a universal, borderless, interfaith and meta-religion symbol. Husayn and his companions are widely regarded as martyrs by all Muslims.