From the Arbaeen of Imam Husayn to the New Islamic Civilization: A Reading in the Horizon of Civilizational Transformation

In recent decades, the Arbaeen pilgrimage of Imam Husayn has emerged as one of the most prominent religious and social phenomena in the Islamic world, due to its massive participation, the expansion of its symbolic and cultural dimensions, and its gradual transformation into a transnational and trans-sectarian event. This growing reality has generated new epistemological questions regarding the nature of this ritual and the possibility of integrating it into the project of constructing contemporary Islamic civilization.
This study seeks to examine how the Arbaeen pilgrimage can transcend the level of a purely religious ritual and, within the framework of the “New Islamic Civilization” project, become a “civilizational driving force.” Accordingly, the study evaluates the potential of this phenomenon to be situated within a comprehensive civilizational vision aimed at shaping collective consciousness and strengthening contemporary human revival.
The central hypothesis of the research posits that the Arbaeen pilgrimage, while benefiting social, spiritual, and mobilizing capacities, represents one of the potential pathways for civilizational transformation in the Muslim world. Nevertheless, the realization and activation of this potential require placing the phenomenon within a coherent and goal-oriented epistemological framework and civilizational vision.
The findings indicate that the latent dimensions of this event—namely its massive popular gathering, value-based symbolism, broad social extension, and transnational character—contain the key components of a distinctive civilizational project. Such a project can contribute to shaping a mission-oriented collective consciousness and activating dynamics of change within Islamic societies. The realization of this potential is possible only through reorienting this phenomenon within an integrated civilizational strategy—one that balances the spirituality of the ritual with the requirements of civilizational development, and transforms it from a spontaneous popular act into a conscious action with a long-term civilizational dimension.