Basra’s Display of Faith and Festivity

For most of us who are not muslims, we usually associate Hajj pilgrimage to the city of Mecca as the highlight of Islamic Faith. While that is true, not many would be aware that there is actually the world’s largest annual public gathering held in the city of Karbala, Iraq. Arba’een Pilgrimage, held at the end of the 40-day mourning period following Ashura (another important religious event for Shia Muslims), bring together Iraqi people and other countries from all walks of life to make their journey to Karbala on foot. People from Basra would have to walk as far as 500 kilometers (source: wikipedia). 

Back in October 2018, I was fortunate enough to observe this event during my travel from airport to the camp. Of course it was just a quick glimpse from the back seat as we weren’t allowed to leave the vehicle. But what I saw during the 2-hour drive was the show of faith and solidarity among Shia Muslims. You see young people, you see old people on wheelchair, you even see a donkey carriage. Villagers who live along the main roads to Kabala set up tents to offer food and shelter to the pilgrims. It was especially a hot October day, so you could imagine how tiring it must be to walk such a long distance under intense Basra heat. 

Donkey (or horse?) carriage

Kind villagers set up tent for pilgrims to rest

Young boys with water hose to keep pilgrims cool during a hot day

To me, this event is as much a show of faith as a period of festivity for Iraqi people. I saw people share food and water. I saw many smiling faces. In a way, it was almost like a hiking trip, albeit very long and arduous one, for outdoor lovers. It would be great if I could one day visit Basra and document the event instead of taking a few photos from the window seat. 

Look at these boys putting chair on the head

Arba’een Pilgrimage deserves a lot more media coverage and attention from documentary/photo journalists. Luckily I found a great work by a photographer named Emily Garthwaite (Instagram: @emilygarthwaite). Head over to her website www.emilygarthwaite.com for some amazing photos from her on-going project Iraq: Road to Arbaeen.

For more of my photos, you can view the full image gallery, or go here to see other photo essays from my Basra Diary project.

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It looks as if I might not be seeing you for a while. The coronavirus pandemic has really turned our world upside down. I was glad and relieved to get out of Iraq before they closed down the airport. Given everything that is happening with the global economy, I’m not sure I will be able to go back there for work. Nobody knows what the future holds. But I do hope to travel and finally see the real Basra and beyond, not just from the window seat like the past two years. Perhaps this break would give me a good opportunity to recollect my thoughts about this experience, and hopefully come up with some new contents for the Basra Diary Project.

Until then, Basra, take good care and, Insha Allah, we’ll meet again.

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Witnessing both solar and lunar eclipses in the same shift in Basra

During the December-January shift, I was lucky enough to witness two natural phenomena of the Solar System - Solar Eclipse and Lunar Eclipse. Although they were not full eclipses, the fact that they both happened in a short span of time, and while I was in Basra, is quite amazing. 

On 26th December 2019, a partial solar eclipse was visible early in the morning, just after sunrise:

26 Dec 2019 07:16 (GMT+3)

Then about two weeks later, a penumbral lunar eclipse occurred on 10th January 2020. Such a lunar eclipse was a little difficult to notice as it looks almost like a normal full moon. However if you look carefully at the lower right section of the moon, you will see that the light is slightly dimmer. This is because the moon moves through the faint, outer part of Earth’s shadow (source: timeanddate.com)

10 Jan 2020 21:52 (GMT+3)

If you are curious, timeanddate.com has a cool graphical simulation of both past events, which you can view here:

• Partial solar eclipse in Basra on 26 Dec 2019
• Penumbral lunar eclipse in Basra on 10 Jan 2020

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