Arba’in pilgrimage ‘a link between Ashura and the reappearance’‎

Speaking at the gathering, Hujjat al-Islam Alireza Panahian said that millions of devout ‎‎people are taking part in the Arba’in pilgrimage, in which tens of millions of pilgrims walk ‎from the Holy Shrine ‎of Imam Ali in Najaf to the Holy Shrine of Imam al-Husayn in Karbala, ‎and said, “The ‎participants in the Arba’in pilgrimage don’t gather only to mourn over the ‎martyrdom of ‎Imam al-Husayn or merely to honour the martyrs and the captives of ‎Karbala.”‎

The renowned Iranian speaker emphasized that complete explanations and morality must be ‎‎transmitted from the epic of the Arba’in pilgrimage to the world and said, “Also, the Arba’in ‎‎pilgrimage is not just for crying and the objective of this gathering is to go beyond these ‎‎issues and is even beyond pilgrimage.”‎

He further stated that the presence of believers in the Arba’in pilgrimage indicates their ‎‎readiness to assist Imam al-Husayn and said, “In defining the Husayni epic, terms and words ‎‎such as ‘loyalty’ must be used. The Arba’in pilgrimage is an epic that draws the most ‎‎attention to Imam al-Mahdi.” ‎

Hujjat al-Islam Panahian said that the Arba’in pilgrimage establishes the link between Ashura ‎‎and the reappearance of Imam al-Mahdi and said, “Those who take steps this path and ‎‎spend on it are those who give importance to the Mahdawi future. The Supreme Leader of ‎‎the Islamic Revolution [Ayatollah Khamenei] has given great emphasis on enriching the ‎content and the wisdom of ‎Arba’in and this issue can be achieved only when that enrichment ‎is accomplished on the ‎path of the reappearance.”‎

The custodian of Dar al-Hikmah Seminary said that Arba’in is a transreligious and ‎‎transdenominational institution and said, “The Arba’in pilgrimage is considered as the ‎‎salvation of humanity because it is a model for life in the great Islamic civilization.”‎

He said that the Arba’in pilgrimage demonstrates the differences between Islamic and ‎‎Western lifestyles and said, “In the Western lifestyle, financial interests are given ‎‎consideration, while in the Arba’in pilgrimage, which demonstrates the Islamic lifestyle, only ‎‎selflessness is observed. That is why the West is preventing the reflection of the news of the ‎‎Arba’in pilgrimage so as not to cause the collapse of Western and European societies.”‎

Hujjat al-Islam Panahian stated that through this issue, we are marking the future of the ‎‎world and added, “Through the Islamic Revolution, power and security in society have ‎‎prevailed and we have been able to gain presence in many countries such as Iraq, Syria, ‎‎Lebanon and Yemen. Today, with divine favour, we have been able to attack the attention ‎‎of the agitated hearts toward the Arba’in pilgrimage, which is all a sign of divine favour.”‎