Accessibility links Skip to main content Keyboard shortcuts for audio player Open Navigation Menu --> Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Close Navigation Menu Home News Expand/collapse submenu for News National World Politics Business Health Science Climate Race Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture Books Movies Television Pop Culture Food Art & Design Performing Arts Life Kit Gaming Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows Daily Morning Edition Weekend Edition Saturday Weekend Edition Sunday All Things Considered Up First Here & Now NPR Politics Podcast Featured Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Millions gathered in Karbala, Iraq, for a Shia pilgrimage Pilgrims came to Iraq from all over the world in August. Many Iraqi and Iranian pilgrims walked hundreds of miles in extreme heat to mark the event. Outside the shrines, the atmosphere is almost festive. Special Series Far-Flung Postcards Greetings from Karbala, Iraq, where millions gathered for a Shia pilgrimage August 26, 20261:36 PM ET By
Jane Arraf
Jane Arraf/NPR Hello from Karbala in central Iraq. Every year, more than 20 million Shia Muslims gather in this small city to commemorate Arbaeen, which took place earlier this month. It marks the killing of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, 14 centuries ago, a defining moment in Shia Islam.
Pilgrims fly into Iraq from all over the world. The temperature is more than 110 degrees in August but many Iraqi and Iranian pilgrims walk for hundreds of miles to mark the sorrowful event. Outside the shrines, though, the atmosphere is almost festive.
I saw images of a soulful-looking Imam Hussein everywhere, including for sale as wall hangings. There were more portraits than usual this year of Iran's former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed by the U.S. in February and considered a martyr in Iran.
But the atmosphere around the pilgrimage is decidedly noncommercial. The shrine area and highways leading to Karbala are lined for weeks before with hospitality tents, where volunteers cook and hand out free food, everything from bean stew to grilled chicken. It's difficult to walk down the street without being handed food or water. People open their homes to the pilgrims to stay on their journey. It's a powerful sense of community, recreated every year.
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