Arbaeen Hosseini is the fortieth day after the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (AS) on the day of Ashura in 61 AH, which coincides with 20 Safar. According to some narrations, the captives of Karbala returned to Sham (Syria) on the 20th of Safar in the year 61 AH to visit the tomb of Imam Hussein (AS); Of course, a group of scholars such as Sheikh Mufid and Sheikh Tusi has stated that the prisoners went to Medina on their return from Syria. Also, Jabir bin Abdullah Ansari has appeared on this day as the first pilgrim to the shrine of Imam Hussein (AS).
Arbaeen pilgrimage is one of the special needs of this day and according to a narration of Imam Hassan Askari (AS), it is considered as a sign of a believer.
On the occasion of Arbaeen is the march of Arbaeen -called Arbaeen Walk- has become one of the most important and widespread mourning ceremonies for the Shiites in the world and has become one of the largest religious communities in the world.
The Arbaeen Walk is the largest annual public gathering in the world. The ceremony includes a large number of Shiite, Sunni Muslims, and even christens and Jews moving to the city of Karbala, south of Baghdad, to gather all of them on the 40th day after the killing of Hussein bin Ali, the third Shiite imam in the Ashura incident.
History
According to some scholars, marches on Arbaeen have been common among Shiites since the time of the Shiite Imams. Seyyed Mohammad Ali Ghazi Tabatabai believes that the Arbaeen March is a tradition and continuous behavior of the Shiites since the time of the Imams, who also adhered to this movement during the time of Bani Umayyah and Bani Abbas.
It is said that this forgotten tradition was revived by Mohaddes Nouri. In a report on the Arbaeen ceremony in Karbala, the author of the book Adab al-Taf likens the gathering of Arbaeen to the gathering of Muslims in Mecca. Adab al-Taf was published in 1388 AH / 1967 AD and its author has estimated the population of Arbaeen marchers at that time was more than one million.
After a while of stopping, and with the introduction of Seyyed Mahmoud Hosseini Shahroudi as one of the professors and teachers with significant spiritual influence in Najaf due to his commitment and insistence on walking to Karbala, the issue of walking to Karbala as a holy journey become alive again. And It became common among the scholars of Najaf.
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Saddam Hussein’s government and the ban on marches
In the late 14th century, the Ba’athist party in Iraq opposed the Arbaeen March, and sometimes they violently attacked marchers, which led to a decline in the number of marches.
Extensive revival of the Arbaeen ceremony
The Iraqi Ba’ath party collapsed in 2003. With the fall of the Ba’ath Party, the Arbaeen march was revived in Iraq. From that year onwards, more people attend each year than the previous year. Two to three million people were present at the beginning of the movement; But in the following years, the number of pilgrims participating in this march reached more than ten million, and in 2014 and 2015, up to 22 million pilgrims were reported. Some Sunnis, Christians, Yazidis, and people of other faiths also attend the ceremony
Walking distance
Iraqi pilgrims move from their cities to Karbala. But most other (foreigners) pilgrims choose the route from Najaf to Karbala for walking. The walking distance between the two cities is about 80 km. There are 1452 columns on the way from Najaf to Karbala, the distance between each column is 50 meters. It takes about 25 to 30 hours to walk the entire route. The best time to start the journey is 16 zeros.
 on the day of Ashura in 61 AH, which coincides with 20 Safar.){kind=link}