Yesterday the Shia in Karbala, Iraq, and all over the world commemorated the Arba’een of Imam Husain’s martyrdom and that of his companions’. The question is why do they do that? Of course, for non-Arabic speakers, the simple answer is: Arba’een means 40. And the tradition of mourning someone’s death for 40 days had been a common Islamic ritual even before Imam Hussain’s martyrdom. Still, the question remains why 40? Why not 30 or 100?

For people that are not content to accept mere facts, but who are interested in the deeper meaning of things in order to understand the wisdom behind them, this calls for some investigation. Thus, the first step I took was researching the number 40. I was surprised to find some very interesting information about this number. In fact, the number 40 is significant in quite a lot of other cultures such as in Jewish, Christian or other Eastern traditions, for example:

• "Forty years" is the time it takes for a new generation to arise.
• Moses" life was divided into three 40-year segments, his upbringing in Egypt, the period of his exile from Egypt, and finally his return to lead his people out of Egypt.
• Several Israelite leaders and kings are said to have ruled for "forty years", such as: Eli, Saul, David, Solomon.
• According to the Hebrew teachings, Moses spent three consecutive periods of "forty days and forty nights" on Mount Sinai.

• In modern Christian practice, the period called ‘Lent’, which is the season of fasting before Easter, consists of 40 days.
• According to Christianity forty days was the period from the resurrection of Jesus till his ascension into heaven.
• In Hinduism, some popular religious prayers consist of forty shlokas or dohas that are couplets or verses.
• Some Russians believe that ghosts of the dead remain at the site of their death for forty days
• Many temples in antique history had 40 pillars, for examples in Persia, Baalbek (in Lebanon) or in the Bible as well as with the Celts (in Europe).
• The historic Babylon had a forty-day-rhythm.
• Human Pregnancy is calculated in a 40-week term.
• Therefore, 40 is a symbolic number of trial/test, probation and initiation as well as of death. In fact, as the tenfold number of four it represents perfection.

Let us now look at the Significance of Arba"een and the Performance of the Ziyarat al-Arba"een, as it is called, which is the visit to Imam Hussain’s grave after forty days of his martyrdom.

Imam Hassan Al-Askari (a.s.), the father of Imam Al Mahdi (may Allah hasten his return) includes the performance of Ziyarat-e-Arba’een as one of the five marks for a believer.

But then I asked myself again, why is so much importance given to the performance of the Ziyarat of Arba’een and the observance of the 40 days of mourning for the Martyrs of Karbala until today?

Ziyarat, as we said is a visit, which in essence, is the act of speaking to and visiting our role models. Of course the physical manifestation of the Ziyarat is actually being present in Karbala to perform the Ziyarat of Arba’een, but, in reality, that is not possible for every believer. So, does making the Ziyarat while away from Karbala give one the same benefits? Traditions from our Imams tell us that performing the Ziyarat far from Karbala would hold the same significance as being in the land of Karbala, as long as the person performing the Ziyarat has truly understood the status of the Imam and seeks to follow him.

The 5^th Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.) states that the heavens wept over Imam Hussain (a.s.) for forty mornings, rising red and setting red. As we complete 40 days of remembrance of our Imam, we re-assert our pledge of loyalty to him, as we recite in the recitation of the Ziyarat supplication:

“I bear witness that you are the Imam (who is) the upright, the pious, well-pleased (with Allah), the pure, the guide and the rightly-guided.
I bear witness that you fulfilled the pledge of Allah and you struggled in His way…I am a friend of whoever befriends him ...”

Thus, by performing the Ziyarat of Arba’een, we pledge that we will continue to follow the path of justice and righteousness and will reject injustice and speak up against oppressors. In essence, we make a promise to continue to follow the teachings of Imam Hussain (a.s.).

But why is it, that we mourn and remember Imam Hussain (a.s.) for a period of forty days and then move on? Prophet Mohammed (p.b.u.h.), who interestingly became a prophet when he was forty years old, said, “The earth mourns the death of a believer for forty mornings.” Therefore it appears that the deceased should be remembered and mourned over for a period of forty days. Performing an act continuously for forty days is not only known to help one to form a habit, but also to carry on the practice for the rest of his life.

If we look at studies dealing with bringing a lifestyle change, we notice the time period emphasized to bring about a change is usually 6 weeks which is about the same as 40 days (to be exact it is 42 days). In the book “40 Days to Personal Revolution”, the author Baron Baptiste explains the significance of forty days. He writes:

Why forty days? Because the number 40 holds tremendous spiritual significance in the realm of transformation.

And he gives well-known examples:

Jesus wandered in the desert for forty days in order to experience purification and come to a greater understanding of himself and his mission. Moses and his people travelled through the desert for forty years before arriving at their home in the holy land. Noah preserved the sacredness of life by sailing his ark for forty days and forty nights. According to the Kabala, the ancient Jewish mystical text, it takes forty days to ingrain any new way of being into our system….

Islamic traditions also advise us in this direction. For example, there is a well-known hadith or narration of Prophet Mohammed (p.b.u.h.) saying: As for anyone who works to Allah (SWT) sincerely for forty days, Allah (SWT) will make the springs of wisdom come out of his heart and tongue.

Hence, we can consider the number 40 as kind of reinforcement aid. In this respect we are told that “the unit 40 (forty) is said to be very effective” for supplications. “If a particular supplication is recited 40 times or 40 people gather to recite it, or it is recited for 40 days then its effectiveness is highly increased.”

In conclusion, as we perform the Ziyarat of Arba’een and commemorate 40 days of mourning for the Martyrs of Ashoora, we hope and pray that this forty days brings about a transformation in us by which we can continue to follow the path of Imam Hussain (a.s.) and carry on his message of upholding justice with true faith and a strong sense of sacrifice!

Refs:

Text Parts taken from: Duas.org/Supplications

A’maal of Muharram and Safar (Tayyiba Publishers)
Karbala and Beyond by Yasin T. Al-Jabouri
The Miracle of Ziyarat-e-Ashoora
Commentary on Ziyarat Ashura, translated by Saleem Bhimji from the work of Ali Asghar Azizi Tehrani
Kitab al-Irshad, translated by IKA Howard, authored by Sheikh Al-Mufeed