The love of Hussain brings us together

With Arbaeen drawing near, as the devoted prepare to walk the long road from Najaf to Karbala on foot, answering the call of Imam Hussain (pbuh), and as Iraqi hosts open their homes and hearts, giving all they have without expecting anything in return, we are reminded of a different kind of journey that passed through these same sacred cities not long ago.

After nearly seven decades, the martyred Leader returned to the holy shrines, as the first to travel this year's Arbaeen route, received in Najaf and carried along the road to Karbala through the shrines of Imam Hussain and his brother Abbas (pbut).

The people of Iraq, who have never failed the guests of the Hussaini procession, received him as they receive every pilgrim — with everything they had, and with a generosity that asked nothing in return.