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Arba’een: Difference between revisions
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Text replacement - "Husayn" to "Hussain"
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'''Arba’een''' is a Shi’a religious observance which occurs forty days after the tragic events of [[Karbala]]. During this day, Shi’a community commemorates the [[martyrdom]] of [[ | '''Arba’een''' is a Shi’a religious observance which occurs forty days after the tragic events of [[Karbala]]. During this day, Shi’a community commemorates the [[martyrdom]] of [[Hussain ibn 'Ali]] and 72 of his followers who were killed by [[Yazid]]’s army in the Battle of Karbala in 61 A.H. (680 C.E.). | ||
==Significance== | ==Significance== | ||
A day of mourning, preferably at the shrine of Imam | A day of mourning, preferably at the shrine of Imam Hussain, Arbaʿeen forms part of a cycle of days commemorating the burial of the [[Imam]] and his companions and the various stages of the return journey of the women captives to Medina. Many pious tales, which have come to form an important part of the [[Ashura]] tradition, have sprung up around this journey.<ref>M. B. Maǰlesī, Beḥār al-anwār XLV, Tehran, 1384/1964, pp. 107, 112ff., and passim.</ref> A special pilgrimage of visitation, the ziarat-e arbaʿeen, is associated with the day, which is still widely observed. | ||
The sanctity of the number forty and especially of the forty-day period in the religious lore of the region is most probably one of the reasons behind this tradition. Fortieth-day observances honoring the dead are still common in the Middle East. | The sanctity of the number forty and especially of the forty-day period in the religious lore of the region is most probably one of the reasons behind this tradition. Fortieth-day observances honoring the dead are still common in the Middle East. | ||
==Historical Background== | ==Historical Background== | ||
According to hagiographical tradition, on the night of Ashura the inhabitants of Medina heard a voice announcing the death of | According to hagiographical tradition, on the night of Ashura the inhabitants of Medina heard a voice announcing the death of Hussain. One of those who heard this was Jaber b. ʿAbdallah Ansari, well-known companion of the Prophet and a friend of the imams. He immediately set out for Karbala and arrived at the tomb of the martyred imam forty days later. Meanwhile, on their way to Medina, the captives begged their escort to pass by Karbala, and thus they reached the sacred spot at the same time as Jaber. The entire company performed the first [[ziara]], and held the first lamentation, [[ʿazadari]], at the sacred tomb.<ref>ʿAlī b. Mūsā b. Moḥammed b. Ṭāʾūs, al-Lohūf ʿalā qatlat al-ṭofūf, Naǰaf 1385/1965, p. 82.</ref> | ||
This tale, which is commonly taken as the basis of the ziarat-e arbaʿeen, would seem to be a pious invention, for both the observance of the day and the ziara attached to it appear to be late. No mention is made of Arbaʿeen in the earliest and most authoritative ziara collection, the Kamel al-ziarat of Ebn Qawluya.<ref>[http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/arbain-fortieth-day-after-asura-q d. 367/977; partly tr. in ʿA. Qomī, Kollīyāt mafātīḥ al-ǰenān, Tehran, 1379/1959, pp. 322-571.]</ref> | This tale, which is commonly taken as the basis of the ziarat-e arbaʿeen, would seem to be a pious invention, for both the observance of the day and the ziara attached to it appear to be late. No mention is made of Arbaʿeen in the earliest and most authoritative ziara collection, the Kamel al-ziarat of Ebn Qawluya.<ref>[http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/arbain-fortieth-day-after-asura-q d. 367/977; partly tr. in ʿA. Qomī, Kollīyāt mafātīḥ al-ǰenān, Tehran, 1379/1959, pp. 322-571.]</ref> | ||
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[[Category:Rituals]] | [[Category:Rituals]] | ||
[[Category:Imam | [[Category:Imam Hussain’s commemoration]] | ||