Despite COVID-19, thousands of Shias gather in Karbala for Muharram
Ignoring calls to stay home, many head to the holy city in Iraq, travelling on side roads to bypass government checkpoints. Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani calls for celebrations to be broadcast on TV to avoid crowds. Other clerics direct their followers to gather in large numbers to celebrate.
Baghdad (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Despite appeals to stay at home and avoid large gatherings, thousands of Shias are converging on the holy city of Karbala, Iraq, for start of the holy month of Muharram.
For Shia Muslims, the pilgrimage represents one of their key rituals, attracting huge crowds of believers every year. This year however, few are expected because of the pandemic.
The same thing happened last month for Hajj, in Makkah, where Saudi authorities limited the number of pilgrims.
Muharram is the first month of the Islamic calendar, and includes celebrations for the annual festival of Ashura, which marks the death of Imam Husayn by the forces of the Caliph Yazid in 680 AD, one of the central events in Shia Islam.
His death is a consequence of the dispute over the succession to the Prophet Muhammad, and marks the beginning of the split between Sunnis and Shiites.
Every year millions of Shias from all over the world come to Iraq to commemorate the origins of their faith, to share food, pray and discuss.
However, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year Iraqi and Iranian authorities are urging the faithful to stay and pray at home.
Iran, which is the world’s largest Shia country, has reported the highest number of coronavirus-related deaths in the Middle East, with more than 20,000, followed by Iraq with more than 6,200 deaths.
Yet, thousands of pilgrims have marched towards the golden doors of Imam Husayn’s shrine in Karbala, some wearing masks and gloves, many others with no personal protective equipment, so many walking side by side, like in previous years.
The authorities have set up tents in Baghdad, Basra and Karbala to welcome pilgrims, and have tried to get people to respect social distancing.
But for Salim Mahdi, a tent manager in Basra near the Iraq-Iran border, "It's dramatically different from other years.”
In general, people do maintain a greater distance and take greater care of personal hygiene, using hand sanitisers.
In neighbouring Iran, where reformist newspaper Arman called it "the most astonishing Muharram of the century,” the supreme leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the country’s Health Minister have banned the usual marches, musical performances and banquets, as well as indoor ceremonies.
In Lebanon, the mostly Shia Hezbollah movement announced that no large tents would be installed, urging families to celebrate at home.
In Iraq itself, where some Shia pilgrims travelled on side roads to bypass checkpoints, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, a leading Shia cleric, called for all ceremonies to be broadcast live and for the faithful to pray at home or wear masks and keep their distance if praying in public.
Other religious leaders seemed far less cautious, directing their followers to gather in large numbers for the entire first ten days of Muharram.
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19/04/2016 14:05
07/04/2016 15:52
