Mawkib: Difference between revisions

The '''Mawakib''' (Plural of Mawkib) are a key medium through which the governance of the [[Arba’een|Arbaeen]] rituals operates. Along the road to Karbala, thousands of Mawakibs are organized to provide a wide range of services to pilgrims including food, beverage, lodging, religious training, medical services, free international phone call, and almost everything one may need in his path toward Karbala for free. The central idea regarding Mawkib is that people partake in both the pilgrimage as well as serving of devotees. Indeed, providing services to lovers of Imam Hussain is considered as a pious act of devotion and source of divine blessing as the pilgrimage itself. Thus, one may encounter Mawakeb organizers who even intercept the pilgrims to plead with them to accept their offerings.<ref>Seyed Mahdi al-Modarresi (2015). Word's Biggest Pilgrimage now Underway, and Why you've never heard of it.</ref>Generally speaking, there exists two main types of Mawakib: those dedicated to services (al-khidma), mostly providing food and accommodation to visitors, which may remain active from Ashura to Arbaeen; and those dedicated to mourning (al-'aza), which organize and perform rituals including mourning sessions, mourning processions, visits to Hussain's tomb and so on.