This is the first time I’ve gone on foot to Arba’inya. I usually go by car, but this year was special. I wanted to challenge the Wahabi Sunnis, who have attacked pilgrims in the past. At 7 a.m. on Monday morning [Feb. 25], I left Baghdad with four of my friends, Musa, Ahmad, Muhammad and Basim. We took some bottles of water and carried the picture of the Imam, Al-Hussein, and two flags, one green and one black to honor him. There were thousands of pilgrims filling the streets toward Karbala, and tents set up everywhere along the road to feed us. Some handed out cans of Pepsi and slices of cake. Others prepared rice and soup for us to eat and tea and water to drink. I heard from those who walk on foot every year that it is a good idea to drink lots of water and tea and take [medicine] for headaches and ointment for your feet. Every couple of miles, we rested and prayed. Basim, who we call Mr. Funny, told lots of jokes.
It took us three days to reach Karbala. I was tired, but it was nothing compared to what our Imam did to save our religion. He is the symbol of sacrifice, and we need him now to save our country from these hard times. It was not easy for me to keep going, but if you saw those old people and kids walking with the souls of fighters to continue all the way to Karbala, you would feel the power inside you to do the same.
Sometimes we sung along the way to ease the tension in areas like Iskandariyah. Because it was dangerous, we had to stick to the road and stay close to other pilgrims. We tried to talk most of the time to make it pass quickly. My feet hurt so much, I had to rest every hour. At one point Basim started to seem tired and stopped being fun. I asked him why he was not saying anything, and he answered that he would tell everyone I was a Wahabi if I do not shut up. Musa said that he was going to tell the soldiers that we were all wearing explosive belts. We laughed and tried to sing some more and tell each other jokes.
On Wednesday night, we arrived to Karbala. It was raining and cold, and we could not find a place to spend the night. Most of the hotels we tried to get a room at were full with pilgrims from Iran, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. We knocked on the door of a house and asked if they could host us for the night, but it was full too. Basim joked that it was an omen that God was not going to accept our trip. We laughed. The people in the house gave us two blankets, so we slept on one and used the second to cover ourselves.
In Karbala, everything was black. The streets were decorated with black clothing and black flags. All the people were wearing black, even the children and the old men and women. All I could see was black. Everyone was weeping and singing religious songs, and the crowds made it very hard to move around. Can you imagine what it looks like to see seven million pilgrims all doing the same thing? I felt the soul of the religion there. Arba’inya means a lot. It is an opportunity to renew our oath to Imam Al-Hussein to follow his path. It is also an opportunity to tell the Wahabis that whatever they do, no one can prevent us from going to visit our Imam. I hope that next year there are 20 million pilgrims because all the Sunnis turn Shiite. Just kidding.
─As told to Silvia Spring and Hussam Ali
