Basra Arbaeen procession sets out for Karbala with giant Imam Hussein banner

BASRA — An Arbaeen procession set out on Monday from Ras al-Bisha, Iraq’s southernmost point in Basra governorate, carrying a giant banner of Imam Hussein on a long walk north to Karbala.

The procession left the Basra coast with both official and public participation, part of the preparations for the Arbaeen commemorations. Its banner — 13 meters high and 24 meters wide — is carried by a team of 20 who take turns bearing it along the way. Organizers said the group would walk the whole distance from the coastline to the Imam Hussein Shrine in Karbala, an annual tradition for residents of the area.

Arbaeen is one of the largest religious gatherings in the world. It falls on the 40th day after Ashura, marking the killing of Imam Hussein ibn Ali, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, at the Battle of Karbala in 680. Millions of Shia Muslims from Iraq and beyond travel to Karbala each year, many walking long distances to reach the shrine where Imam Hussein is buried.

It was the second procession to leave Ras al-Bisha for this year’s Arbaeen. Days earlier, the Dam’at Ruqayya procession set out from the same point under the slogan “Labbaik Ya Hussein,” or “At your service, O Hussein,” in what its organizers called the first flag procession to depart from Iraq’s southern tip.