Quranic Circles among Effective Programs in Arbaeen March: Iranian Cultural Envoy

TEHRAN (IQNA) – Iran’s cultural attaché in Iraq described Quranic circles as being among effective programs held during the Arbaeen procession.

Speaking to IQNA, Hojat-ol-Islam Gholam Reza Abazari said joint Quranic circles held in Iraq with the participation of Iranian and Iraqi qaris are received warmly by the Arbaeen pilgrims.

He said in the pre-coronavirus pandemic years, a large number of Iranian qaris would travel to Iraq and attended Quranic circles in Moukebs on the path of pilgrims and in other places.

 There are plans to organize more such programs and other Quranic events in a broader scale during the Arbaeen season this year, he stated.

Abazari noted that Iraq’s Quranic association has held numerous meetings with Iranian officials to coordinate the Quranic activities.

He also said two cultural committees, one in Iraq and the other in Iran, have joined to form the cultural committee of the Arbaeen headquarters, which would coordinates organizing religious programs, religious speeches, exhibitions, scholarly forums with the participation of scholars from different countries, and cultural and arts activities.

The Arbaeen mourning ceremony is one of the largest religious gatherings in the world.

It marks the 40th day after Ashura, the martyrdom anniversary of the grandson of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), Imam Hussein (AS). This year’s Arbaeen falls on September 17.

Each year, a huge crowd of Shias flock to Karbala, where the holy shrine of Imam Hussein (AS) is located, to perform mourning rites.

The pilgrims, mainly from Iraq and Iran, travel long routes on foot to the holy city.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Hojat-ol-Islam Abazari highlighted the existing capacities for development of religious tourism between Iran and Iraq, saying no other two countries have such a great potential for exchange of religious tourists and pilgrims.

He said both countries are taking more and more steps to facilitate religious tourism between the two sides, referring to a recent decision by Iraq to lift visa requirements for Iranian pilgrims traveling to the Arab country by air as one of these steps.

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