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Download the Guide as a PDF | DOC | Urdu PDF/InPageWALKING GUIDEDetails:Total Distance80 KmTotal Number of Poles1452 PolesDistance Between Each Poles50 meters [20 Poles = 1 Km]Approx. Walking Time Required16 to 23 hoursEstimated Time to Reach the Destination2-3 DaysPreferred Start Time16^th Safar [17^th November, 2016] – After Fajr – 6:45 AMExpected Completion Time (InshaAllah)18^th Safar [19^th November, 2016] – Dhuhr – 12 PMWho Can Do This?Anyone (Male/Female/Families)

Directions:

Take an Exit from Imam Ali (A.S) Haram from Bab-e-Tousi (Opposite to Bab-e-Qibla) and start walking straight on Shahra-e-Tousi – After about 500 meters, Wadi-us-Salam Cemetry will start – Keep walking straight and you will eventually get to the Highway (on the right), turn left, where hundreds of thousands of people will be walking towards Karbala – Join them and you will reach the Haram of Hazrat Abbas (A.S) after about 70 Km at Pole # 1452.
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Landmarks (Poles) – Pole Numbers are mentioned along the road from Najaf to Karbala on every Pole:Poles Starts After10 Km.Pole # 1Ministry Office on Left side of the RoadPole # 345Concrete Walls – Temporary CheckpostPole # 578City of Haidariya – Haidariya HospitalPole # 647Proper Permanent WashroomsPole # 960Large CheckpostsPole # 1183CheckpostPole # 1237Imam Ali (A.S) City – Washrooms, Mosque, Rest Area etc.Pole # 1252Ministry of Import/Export – OfficePole # 1285Checking Checkpost – Entrance of KarbalaPole # 1294[Optional Shortcut] Turn Right – After about 4.5 Km (New 1-100 Poles on this Route) – Original Poles will again start from 1407Pole # 1407First Sight to Roza-e-Hazrat Abbas (A.S) – People who Have Turn Right at 1294 will Join here (Note: Remove your Shoes in Respect to Haram)Pole # 1452End of Poles25 MetersBab-e-Qibla – Roza-e-Hazrat Abbas (A.S)

Recommended Stops/Milestones:

• Keep on walking until the poles start – Preferably don’t stop before the poles’ starts.
• Try to spend the 1st Night in any Moukkab somewhere between Pole # 350 to 500. Only walk as much as your body allows you, don’t overstretch yourself! Every body is different from the other!
• Try to spend the 2nd Night in any Moukkab somewhere between Pole # 900 to 1100.
• You should take stops after every 100/200 or so poles to re-group with family/friends and take a rest of 10-15 minutes to allow your muscles to ease up.

Walking Notes:

• Update: Start walking after Salat’ul-Layl (Namaz-e-Shab) i.e approximately an hour or two before Fajr prayers, as that will be the BEST time to cover the distance with the fastest possible speed, as you would be fresh, your muscles have eased up overnight, as well as the walking track won’t have too much people walking on it and you can adjust your walking speed as per your liking – it will also feel good to walk with a slight cold just before Dawn.
• Don’t over-stretch yourself during the walk. Take a rest, when required.
• Update: Stop walking about 40-50 minutes before Maghrib and try to find a comfortable place to stay for yourself and the people accompanying you. Quite a few camps got full by Maghrib – So, ensure you stop before Maghrib and have already found a reasonable place to spend the night – There are thousands of Moukkabs throughout the route, so you don’t have to worry much.

Belongings’ Notes:

• Try not to get too much weight with you. Don’t take anything to eat or drink, there is already too much on the way.
• Take any regular medicines that would be required during the 2-3 days’ walk.
• Prefer a lightweight backpack instead of a shopping bag to carry stuff during your journey.
• Seasonal: Proper clothes to avoid the cold – Socks, Hand Gloves, Cap, Ear-cover, Jacket & preferably a shawl. Update: Please check out the expected temperature this Arba’een soon. The weather is expected to be reasonably warm, this Arba’een – unlike last years! Do check the weather forecast before packing up your bags to avoid carrying unnecessary apparel’s weight.
• Any suitable cream for rashes. Important Update: Corn flour is ideal for immediate relief in rashes. Just spread it generously at the place of burning. It can be applied in advance to prevent rashes as well. Can be used at any place, as long as it isn’t an open wound – pretty safe!!
• You can get a small pocket Quran/Duas/Ziyarat or put them in your mobile (if possible) to pass your time while walking.
• Don’t wear new shoes – Try to wear something comfortable, that you can walk with. Click here to read more about Preventing Blisters.
• Passport, Mobile Charger (if you are carrying a mobile).

Important Notes:

• You don’t have to worry much about doing it completely. If you ever think, that you cannot continue at any point, you can take a van to reach Karbala, there are hundreds everywhere. An average male/female above the age of 10 years is 99.99% likely to complete it on the 3^rd day without any issues. You should at least give it a try – it is definitely worth it!!
• Make sure you know the name of the Hotel; you are intended to stay in Karbala.
• If you want to make a phone call, make it before Fajr to get your calls through, as they normally don’t go through rest of the day due to high network traffic (Update: The situation has improved in the last few years or so and the calls do get connected after few tries). You can use AsiaCell’s GPRS to communicate during the walk as well.
• For Common Terminologies in English, Arabic and Urdu – Click here

Landmarks/Re-Grouping Stops:Western Washrooms (Commode)Click here for the List of Pole Numbers and Moukkab NamesPole # 72Moukkab Aal-e Abi-Talib (A.S.)Pole # 297Moukkab Al-AbrarPole # 458Moukkab Imam Zain-ul-Abedin (A.S.)Pole # 602Moukkab Aal-e-FakhruddinPole # 795Moukkab Muzeef-al-Hussain (A.S.)Pole # 594, 713, 892, 1086Various Moukkabs By Pakistanis (Preventing Blisters | Blisters Treatement | Blisters Guide) – [From Kufa via Hillah to Karbala – Moukkab On Pole # 925] – Route MapPole # 1062Imam Hassan (A.S.) City – Managed by Administration of Haram e Imam Hussain (A.S)Pole # 1237Imam Ali (A.S.) City – Managed by Administration of Haram e Hazrat Abbas (A.S)

Note: There are literally thousands of Moukkab (Camps/Buildings) and you can stay anywhere, you want – this detail is just handy, if you are travelling with family/friends to set a re-grouping point.Kamil-uz-Ziyaraat (Chapter 43): Ziyarat of Imam Husain (a.s.) is obligatory on All

Tradition 1: Imam Sadiq (a.s.) said: Order our Shia to perform the Ziyarat of Imam Husain (a.s.), because it is obligatory on every believer who testifies that Husain (a.s.) is an Imam appointed by Allah, the Mighty and Sublime.

Tradition 2: Imam Reza (a.s.) said: There is a binding contract on every Shia and follower towards him Imam and the most perfect and beautiful way to fulfill this contract is to perform the Ziyarat of the grave of that Imam.
On Judgment Day, Imam (a.s.) will intercede for one who performs his Ziyarat with longing and believe in that which he has been ordered to believe.

Tradition 4: Imam Sadiq (a.s.) said: Even if you go to Hajj every year but don’t perform the Ziyarat of Imam Husain (a.s.), you have abandoned one of your obligations towards Allah and His messenger, because the right of Imam Husain (a.s.) is made obligatory on every Muslim by the Almighty Allah.

Imam Jafar-e-Sadiq(A.S) About Ziyarat-e-Imam Hussain(A.S):

1. When the visitor leaves the house, each and every spot that he steps on, prays for him. (Behaarul Anwar, vol 101, pg 15, tradition 14)
2. When the rays of the sun fall on the visitor of Imam’s (a.s.) shrines, it consumes his sins like the fire consumes wooden sticks. The sun does not leave any sin on his body and he returns home sinless. In fact on his return he is granted a status that is not even given to those who shed their blood in Allah’s path. (Behaarul Anwar, vol 101, pg 15, tradition 14; Kamiluz Ziaraat, pg 298)
3. When a Shia knows Imam Hussain’s (a.s.) right over the people and leaves his house for Imam’s (a.s.) ziarat in this condition, without any pride and conceit, then a 1,000 angels accompany him from the right, with another 1,000 angels on the left. And he will be rewarded as if he has performed 1,000 Hajj and 1,000 Umrah with a prophet or with the successor (wasi) of a prophet. (Behaarul Anwar, vol 101, pg 91, tradition 33)
4. ‘If one of our Shia goes for Imam Hussain’s (a.s.) Ziarat, then he will not return but all his sins will be forgiven. For every step that he or his mount takes, 1,000 virtues are written for him, 1,000 sins are forgiven and his status is elevated by 1,000 degrees.’ (Behaarul Anwar, vol 101, pg 25, tradition 26; Kamiluz Ziaraat, pg 134)

Check out a short video documenting the walk undertaken by millions of people each year to Karbala in Iraq, to the shrine of Imam Hussain (AS)

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