SHAFAQNA- IQNA: Shia Muslims and devotees of Imam Hussain (AS) in Zambia organized mourning rituals in several cities of the African country on Arbaeen. They marched in the streets of the capital Lusaka as well as the cities of Livingstone and Katuba on Tuesday, carrying flags and banners and chanting ‘Ya Hussain’ (O’ Imam Hussain (AS)- an Arabic phrase used by Shia Muslims to invoke the memory of Imam Hussain (AS)).
The participants included local Zambian Muslims as well as Shia Muslims from India, Pakistan and other countries. Arbaeen marks 40 days after Ashura, the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussain (AS) and his companions in the 680 AD Battle of Karbala. Zambia is a landlocked country in southern Africa and its neighbors are the Democratic Republic of Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique to the southeast, Zimbabwe and Botswana to the south, Namibia to the southwest, and Angola to the west. The official language of the country is English and less than one percent of its population is Muslim.