The Department of Hussaini Rituals, Processions and Bodies in Iraq and Islamic world of the two holy shrines of Imam Al-Hussain and of Al-Abbas (peace be upon both of them), has issued a set of recommendation for the condolences and service processions' owners participating in the rituals of Ziyarat Arba'een of Imam Al-Hussayn and his brother of Aba Al-Fadl Al-Abbas (peace be upon both of them) this year, stressing on the respect of these instructions for service in compliance with this ritual and this holy Ziyarat.
The instructions are:
- The members of the processions has to respect the time of prayer. It is prohibited to switch on the loudspeakers during the prayer time, as they have to take into account the sanctity of the time and the place. And they must be switched off at midnight.
- All the brothers who accompany the Hussayni processions should preserve the sanctity of Karbala.
- The Hussayni processions have to respect their one-time scheduled timing according to the rite either Zinjeel or lamentation, as the Zinjeel processions will be during the 16th and 17th of Safar, and the lamentation processions will be on the 18th and 19th of Safar.
- The entrance of the processions will be exclusively from the gate of Qibla of Imam Al-Hussayn (peace be upon him) to the holy shrine and then go out from the gate of Qadi Al-Hajat leading to the area between the two holy shrines then entering to the Al-Abbas's (p) holy shrine and then head to their headquarters.
- All processions have to know that because of the severe congestion no elegies' reading is allowed inside the two holy shrines.
- The procession's sponsor has to show the written commitment issued by police directorate of the holy city of Karbala, as well as the identification badge issued by the Department of rituals, processions and Hussayni bodies in Iraq and the Islamic world/ the Al-Abbas's (p) holy shrine.
- The owner/sponsor of the procession is the direct responsible for the security of his procession and has to prevent the entry of strangers to his procession, and has to put people who know the members of the procession at the entrance of the two holy shrines to identify them before their entry.
- Ensure that the audio devices and cameras are secure.
- It is not allowed to carry firearms, sharp materials and water sprinklers.
- To not rise picture of any religious symbol as the occasion is purely for Imam Al-Hussayn (peace be upon him).
- Processions of Tatbeer condolences are not allowed in the Ziyarat Arba'een, and the sponsor of the procession bear the legal responsibility of this.
- Tashabeeh [parade copying acts or scenes in a theatrical way] that are not suitable for the Arba'een are not allowed, and those that are refused will have to go back to their headquarters from the main barrier, as the convoy of the return of captives and Imam As-Sajjad (peace be upon him) was without chains and was not accompanied by Omayyad soldiers, and they were not beaten with whips.
- Sticks, flags and banners that do not fit with the ritual of Ziyarat Arba'een are not allowed.
- Please comply with the instructions and respect the schedule of the processions issued only by the department of rituals, processions and Hussayni bodies/ the Al-Abbas's (p) holy shrine, to cooperate with the employees of the two holy shrines and the servants of the Hussayni processions and the competent employees of the security services.
- It is not allowed to carry heads and corpses in the condolences of Tashabeeh and in the processions' headquarters because of the attenuation of the sacred characters.
- The processions reminding the return convoy on camels are allowed only on the 15th and 16th of Safar.
- Each procession has to bring a fire extinguisher and put it in a clear place to be accessible under the hand of those cooking to deal with any fire or emergency -God forbid-.
- Women are not allowed in the Zinjeel and Latm processions.
- The procession is allowed to descend twice, once a zinjeel and once a Latm, and a stamp is placed on the bail for the number of times of disembarkation.
- When noticing any negative (security or health) situation near the motorcade, go to the nearest security or health detachment to report it.
- It is not allowed to bring and bang the drums inside the shrines, because it affects the new construction, as well as not to enter large vehicles carrying acoustics, and the size of the vehicle (1 m width x 1.5 m length).
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