Shiites Begin Annual Arbaeen Trek Tomorrow

The annual symbolic Arbaeen trek of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria is scheduled to commence tomorrow in Pambegua zone.

Arbaeen trek is a Shiite annual religious practice usually conducted on 20th Safar of Islamic calendar to mark the 40th day of the murder of Imam Hussein ibn Ali, the grandson of Prophet Muhammed who was killed on 10th Muharram.

According to the representative of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria in Bauchi, Malam Ahmad Yusuf Yashi, the purpose of the trek was to experience the trial and tribulation faced by the household of the Holy Prophet who was chained and dragged in the scorching desert.

Yashi, who was representing the leader of the movement, Sheikh Yakub Ibraheem Al-Zakzaky in the state, told journalists in Bauchi yesterday that part of the tribulation was the dragging barefoot of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson from Karbala in Iraq to Damascus in Syria after the killing of Imam Husain 61 years after Hijra.

Yashi said, “The 40th day (Arbaeen) commemoration after the martyrdom of Imam Husain, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) is commemorated annually by the Islamic movement, following a symbolic trek by millions of people from across the country.

“In Nigeria, the Islamic movement under the leadership of Ibraheem Yakub Al-Zakzaky, we used to conduct the trek just to symbolize what happened. There are about seven axis that the Muslim brotherhood used to gather and conduct this trek, we have the Kano, Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto, Kaduna, Bauchi and Plateau axis.

“Before 2015, we used to trek from the starting point of the Pambegua axis up to Zaria, where we met the leader. From there, he gives the closing remarks and people return back to their states. From 2015, after the Buhari regime descended on the Islamic movement, especially our leader, killing thousands of people, the government took it upon itself to prevent this trek, particularly in Kaduna State.”