AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): The first batch of the members of Iran’s Arbaeen Quranic Convoy, known as the Noor Convoy, organized this year’s first Arbaeen Quranic circle in the city of Kut, eastern Iraq.
They had left Iran for Iraq on Thursday and visited the holy shrine of Imam Ali (AS) in Najaf before leaving for Kut.
There, they held the first Quranic circle of this year’s Arbaeen in cooperation with Iraq’s Association of Quranic Relations and its office in Kut.
Members of the convoy, Mehdi Adeli and Seyed Mohammad Kermani, recited verses from the Holy Quran during the program, which was broadcast on a number of Iraqi television channels.
According to Seyed Mohammad Moojani, head of the Iranian Arbaeen Headquarters’ Quranic Committee, the second batch of the Quranic convoy’s members departed Tehran for Najaf on Friday.
The Arbaeen Quranic convoy includes 98 Iranians and 34 foreign nationals from 14 countries, such as Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Nigeria, India, and Pakistan.
The activities of the convoy will run for 12 days, Moojani said earlier.
Male and female qaris as well as Tawasheeh groups members will hold various programs on different paths towards Kabala during the Arbaeen season, he said.
The programs will conclude with a Quranic circle in Karbala on the eve of Arbaeen, he added.
“Given the recent incidents in Palestine and Gaza, this year’s Quranic programs center on the Palestinian issue and commemorating Gaza martyrs, especially Martyr Ismail Haniyeh,” he added.
The Arbaeen mourning ceremony is one of the largest religious gatherings in the world.
It marks the 40th day after Ashura, the martyrdom anniversary of the grandson of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), Imam Hussein (AS). This year’s Arbaeen falls on August 25.
Each year, a huge crowd of Shias flock to Karbala, where the holy shrine of Imam Hussein (AS) is located, to perform mourning rites.
The pilgrims, mainly from Iraq and Iran, travel long routes on foot to the holy city.
The members of Iran’s Noor Convoy perform different Quranic and religious programs, including recitation of the Quran, Adhan (call to prayers), and Tawasheeh on the road between Najaf and Karbala during the Arbaeen march.
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