AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): During the first ten days of the lunar Hirji month of Muharram, some 16 million pilgrims entered the holy city of Karbala in Iraq.
This is according to Baqir al-Saedi, a member of the Iraqi parliament, the Middel East News reported.
Also, statistics released by the secretariat of the Astan (custodianship) of Hazrat Abbas (AS) holy shrine show that 2,000 Moukebs served the pilgrims during the mourning period that culminated on the Day of Ashura on Saturday.
Moukebs are booth with special facilities and services for pilgrims, mostly offering votive food and free meals and drinks.
The secretariat added that more than 6,000 volunteers served the pilgrims in this period.
Ashura is the culmination of a 10-day annual mourning period in the lunar calendar month of Muharram for Imam Hussein (AS), who was martyred along with his 72 companions in the Battle of Karbala in southern Iraq in 680 AD after fighting courageously for justice against the much larger army of the Umayyad caliph, Yazid I.
The Muharram ceremonies symbolize the eternal and unwavering stance of truth against falsehood and humanity’s struggle against injustice, tyranny and oppression.
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