AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): A group of Quran activists of Al-Mustafa International University headed to Iraq on Monday evening to take part in the Arbaeen pilgrimage.
They include qaris, Quran memorizers and members of the Biza’at al-Mustafa Tawasheeh group.
Hojat-ol-Islam Mohammad Hossein Rafiei, director general of the university’s Quran and Hadith Department, told IQNA that the 30-strong convoy will hold Quranic programs and Islamic propagation activities.
He said the programs include Quran recitations, Tarteel recitations, Tawasheeh (religious songs), Adhan (call to prayer), elegy recitations.
Answering the Quranic questions of Arbaeen pilgrims is also on the agenda of the group, he stated.
The convoy comprises professors and students of the university from various countries, including Pakistan, India, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Mali, Burkina Faso, Tajikistan and Iraq, he noted.
Hojat-ol-Islam Rafiei added that the group is taking part in the spiritual journey with the aim of offering Quranic services to Arbaeen pilgrims.
The Arbaeen Quranic convoy of Al-Mustafa International University will be staying in Iraq for 8 days during the Arbaeen season, he went on to say.
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 falls on August 25.
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