TEHRAN—Reza Mousavi, a senior official of Hamedan province, said 224 Mookebs (service centers with a religious nature where Shia Muslims come together and conduct religious rituals during Arbaeen) have been launched across the province to render services to the pilgrims during Arbaeen.

Pointing to the project to build five new courtyards in an area of 40 hectares around the holy shrines in Karbala, he said that one of the courtyards has been completed, ILNA reported. 

He explained that these courtyards will be a haven of peace for pilgrims. 

Mousavi said 2,700 copper bricks with golden covers have been donated by the people of Hamedan to upgrade the holy dome of Imam Hussein (AS), which is unprecedented in the country, and donations in cash, non-cash, property, and even construction materials are also being collected on a large scale.

The courtyard of Hazrat Zahra (AS) in Najaf has been built and handed over to the pilgrims with a built-up area of 220,000 square meters and four floors. 

He continued that the courtyard of Aqila Bani Hashem in Karbala with a built-up area of 180,000 square meters and four floors, has witnessed a physical progress of 80 percent and will be fully completed by March 2027. 

Other courtyards such as Imam Hassan Mojtaba (AS), Hazrat Ali Akbar (AS), Hazrat Qasem (AS), and the courtyard of Saheb al-Zaman (AS) are also on the agenda, and after completion, the surroundings of the holy shrines of Imam Hussein (AS) and Hazrat Abbas (AS) will be unified, he mentioned. 

Mousavi announced that two popular campaigns are underway to reconstruct and develop the holy shrines. One is to participate in the construction of the courtyards by paying at least 30 million rials and receive a certificate of honor and registration in the shrine list, and the other is a tile campaign worth two million rials to purchase each tile of the shrine, on the back of which the name of the donor will be recorded, he added.

He stated: “The purchase of materials, the implementation of projects, the provision of technical personnel, and their transfer to the shrines are all done from Iran, and the domestic economy also benefits from these projects.”

Stating that all the materials required for the projects are provided from the country, Mousavi said: “The height of the holy dome of Imam Hussein (AS) has increased by 25 meters during recent projects. Its segmentation operations are carried out in Kerman, tiling is done in Isfahan, and the stone used is also provided in factories in Hamadan and Kordestan provinces. After the stone is cut, these materials are sent from Iran to Iraq in about 150 trucks every two to three months.”

He continued: “So far, more than 300 specialized technical personnel from Hamadan province have been dispatched to the reconstruction projects in the holy shrines, which indicates the province’s prominent role in this field.”

Arbaeen, one of the largest religious gatherings in the world, marks the end of a 40-day mourning period following the martyrdom of Imam Hussain (AS) and his companions at the Battle of Karbala in 680 CE.

KD