The intense heat of August and the COVID-19 pandemic did not stand in the way of believers who visited the holy city of Karbala in huge numbers, and went to the shrines of Imam Hussein and Abbas, in commemoration of Ashura.

Starting on Wednesday night, hundreds of thousands of men, women, young people and the elderly, most of them from different regions of Iraq but also from other countries such as India and Iran, flocked to the city whose markets were covered in black, the color of mourning, and red, the color of blood.  

Star Dholam, coming from Kut, southeast of Baghdad, was standing in the street adjacent to the shrine of Imam Hussein, without a mask, despite the recommendations to follow preventive measures.

"We do not care about masks because our belief in Imam Hussein protects us from everything," he told AFP.

Sattar is not the only one who chose to abandon the mask, the masks have disappeared from the faces of the majority of people among the crowds that gathered near the shrine of Imam Hussein, who was killed on the tenth of Muharram in the seventh century. The Shiites have commemorated for centuries the memory of his killing with processions and distinct rituals. 

Kamel Muhammad, who comes from Basra Governorate said that he is not afraid of contracting the epidemic because "my faith in God is great and I follow the example of Imam Hussein."

Large religious gatherings are a catalyst for the spread of the virus and health authorities in the world have warned of them.

In recent weeks, the Iraqi authorities have repeatedly warned of the country's entry into a new epidemic wave, while the country's hospitals suffer from a general lack of treatment equipment.

Iraq has so far recorded more than 1.8 million cases, as well as more than 19,880 deaths. The vaccination campaign is still in its infancy, with just over five percent of the population fully vaccinated. 

- security procedures -

The Assistant Secretary-General of the Husseiniya shrine, Afzal Shami, confirmed to AFP that the shrine administration "provided what the visitor needs in terms of sterilization, as well as masks."

Shami said that "mobile teams have been assigned to the areas surrounding the two shrines to sterilize the places in order to reduce risks," but that "every person is responsible for protecting himself through preventive measures."

He said that the temperature of entering visitors is measured before they enter at the checkpoints, and there is a medical unit near the two shrines whose mission is to take care of the health of visitors in need.

Iraq continues to suffer from security threats, with explosions occurring sporadically here and there. Memories of the sectarian war between 2006 and 2008 and Daesh control between 2014 and 2017 are still fresh in people's minds.

Although the number of visitors is no longer the same as it was before the pandemic, processions for the occasion went out on Wednesday, as usual, in the streets of the city, accompanied by drumming with distinctive rhythms and reciting poems celebrating Hussein and reflecting the sadness that Shiite believers still feel over this historical incident.

On the sides of Karbala's roads, stations for preparing traditional meals of meat, chickpeas and rice were spread out, while small water bottles were placed in containers containing ice to give free of charge to heat-weary passers-by.