AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Like previous years, physicians will volunteer to provide medical and health services to those taking part in the Arbaeen march.
The special assistance to the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Red Crescent Society called on Iranian and foreign medics willing to serve the pilgrims to announce their readiness.
Saeed Ohadi said some 6,000 physicians and nurses volunteered for this in last year’s Arbaeen pilgrimage, nearly 2,000 of whom served the pilgrims on the road between Najaf and Karbala.
He added that the Iranian Red Crescent Society set up 286 active medical bases in Iraq, including hospitals in Najaf, Karbala and the road between the two cities, during last year’s Arbaeen season.
Ohadi pledged that the capacities of the hospitals and medical centers will be multiplied for this year’s event.
He further said an international congress on health, rescue and relief operation and management of Arbaeen gatherings is planned to be held by the Iranian Red Crescent Society soon.
Arbaeen is a religious event that is observed by Shia Muslims on the fortieth day after the Day of Ashura. It commemorates the 40th day of martyrdom of Hussein ibn Ali (AS), the grandson of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and the third Shia imam, who was killed by the army of Yazid I in the Battle of Karbala in 680 CE.
Arbaeen is also known as the Ziyarat of Arbaeen, which means the visitation of Imam Hussein’s (AS) shrine in Karbala, Iraq, where his body is buried. Ziyarat is an act of pilgrimage and devotion in Shia Islam.
Arbaeen is one of the largest annual pilgrimages in the world, with millions of Shia Muslims from different countries walking to Karbala from various cities in Iraq and neighboring countries. The distance can range from 80 km to 500 km or more, depending on the starting point.
This year’s Arbaeen is expected to fall on August 25, depending on the moonsighting.
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