Arbayeen

This week my Shi'a friend will have been in mourning for 40 days.  Ashura began at the end of November and continued through the holidays this year.  This is a period of intense grief and mourning.  Shi'a gather in Mosques or Matams (a place for small, informal religious gatherings, traditionally located in a house) for sorrowful, poetic recitations and lamenting to the tune of beating drums and chants.  The Sheikh retells the Battle of Karbala to allow listeners to relive the pain and sorrow of Hussein and his family.

Arbayeen means "forty" in Arabic.  It occurs 40 days after the Day of Asura, the commemoration of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of Muhammed, which falls on the 20th day of the second month of the Islamic Calendar.  Hussein and 72 supporters died in the Battle of Karbala.  Forty days is the usual length of the time of mourning in many Islamic cultures.

This year Arayeen is January 14th.  Please pray for the Shi'a of the Gulf on the 13th and 14th.  Pray that they will find true salvation.  Pray for their eyes to be open and the ears to hear.