Every year, millions of pilgrims walk from the deserts of southern Iraq to the holy city of Karbala for Arbaeen, one of the largest annual pilgrimages in the world. In 2026, pilgrims will converge on Karbala on Aug. 5.
Arbaeen falls 40 days after Ashura, which commemorates the killing of Husayn ibn Ali, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, in 680 C.E. It marks the end of the mourning period that begins during the Islamic month of Muharram.
