Every year, the Shiites of Iraq commemorate the death of Imam Hussein bin Ali, may God be pleased with them, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, and conclude the ceremony with the revival of 40 Hussein, which falls early next month, and the occasion comes this world while the world faces the Corona pandemic, which imposed a limit Visitors to the shrine of Imam Hussein in Karbala (south of Baghdad), and closing the borders to those coming from outside.

"Iraq has gone through a lot of misery, from war to torture to prison to forced migration and now the Corona virus," said cleric Sheikh Hasan Zakri from Karbala, adding, "All the time, Iraqis relied on religion, especially during Ashura (10 Muharram)."

Shiite Muslims commemorate Ashura by visiting the shrine of Imam Hussein in Karbala, and they arrive from different regions of Iraq and other countries, and during the visit they express their deep sadness, and their influence over what he and his family were subjected to.

"When we visit in light of many worries, calamities, or needs, we start crying, because the flow of tears is the door for the prayer to be answered," Zakri explains.

The vocalist Muhammad al-Karbalai, 31, says that Iraq is a sad country, since the era of the late President Saddam Hussein's regime until now, has not known joy.

Karbalai is usually performed with a procession of drummers performing mourning chants of Imam Hussain.

"People feel that there is injustice, but there is also goodness, and at the end of the day, and throughout history, good always triumphs," Karbalai added.

Despite the closure of the borders, the Shalamcheh port, visitors to Imam Hussein, peace be upon him until now, are still arriving from southern Iran to the Shalamjah port road # Qiam_post pic.twitter.com/10svBUJSK6

- Nasser #Sayed (@ as_ad313) September 20, 2020

Border closures


In an effort to limit the spread of the virus, the Iraqi borders are still closed to non-residents, and the authorities urged their citizens not to participate in large gatherings.

However, it is estimated that tens of thousands of Iraqis attended the Ashura rituals in Karbala at the end of last month, and more numbers are expected to attend the commemoration of 40 Al Hussein, which falls in the first week of next month.

"This year is exceptional," said Riyadh Al-Salman, head of the Husseinian Rituals and Processions Department.

Because the virus has spread around the world.

This year, Salman supervised about 30,000 workers at the Hussein shrine site who distributed masks and sterilizers to the crowd of visitors and measured their temperature.

Yesterday, the World Health Organization warned that the situation in Iraq is "worrying", and said that it is monitoring the situation in Karbala as the fortieth visit approaches.

This comes at a time when the Iraqi security authorities have strengthened their presence on the southern borders with Iran and Kuwait;

In anticipation of the attempt of visitors to storm the borders in order to go to the religious shrines in Karbala to perform the 40th visit

As of Sunday evening, confirmed cases of Coronavirus in Iraq had reached 319,35 cases, including 8,555 deaths, and 253,591 recoveries.