Introduction: Religious mourning ceremonies in Shiite communities have traditionally been conducted in different forms, depending on religious norms, customary practices, and the composition of participants and ritual performers. These ceremonies generally fall into three categories: (1) gatherings attended by both men and women, in which the speakers and reciters are men; (2) gatherings attended exclusively by men, where the speakers and reciters are likewise men; and (3) gatherings attended exclusively by women, in which the preachers, reciters, and eulogists may be women and, in some cases, men.
Given the specific religious regulations and cultural norms within Islam and Shiism regarding women’s bodily covering, vocal expression, and public visibility, many of the roles played by women in mourning rituals have historically remained outside public view and have taken place within gender-segregated spaces. This circumstance, together with the limited documentation of women’s religious activities, has resulted in relatively few recorded accounts of women’s participation in mourning ceremonies.
Nevertheless, historical evidence and ethnographic reports from different periods, regions of Iran, and other Shiite communities demonstrate that women have actively participated in and contributed to a variety of mourning practices associated with the commemoration of the Karbala event. These accounts reveal that while Shiite beliefs and ritual frameworks share common universal elements, the religious experiences of Shiite women have been diverse across different social and cultural contexts.
Women’s mourning ceremonies conducted within the context of the Arba’in pilgrimage and walking ritual likewise possess distinctive structural and functional characteristics. This study seeks to describe, analyze, and interpret some of these characteristics through ethnographic observation of women’s mourning gatherings during the Arba’in pilgrimage.
Methods: This study employs a qualitative approach and an ethnographic research method. Ethnography may be understood as both the science and the art of describing a human group, including its institutions, social interactions, material culture, and systems of belief.
The researcher, who is herself a woman, participated in the Arba’in pilgrimage in Iraq for more than five consecutive years, with the exception of a two-year interruption during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021). This sustained engagement provided opportunities for direct observation, participant observation, informal conversations, and in-depth interviews, particularly with female pilgrims.
Among the field phenomena that attracted particular attention were women’s mourning gatherings held along the Arba’in pilgrimage route. Given religious sensitivities concerning women’s bodily visibility, vocal performance, and image recording, as well as participants’ concerns regarding privacy and representation, the research was conducted and reported in accordance with appropriate ethical considerations. Particular care was taken to respect participants’ expectations and cultural norms throughout the research process.
Findings: Like any social phenomenon, women’s mourning gatherings held within the temporal and spatial context of the Arba’in pilgrimage possess distinctive formal and thematic characteristics. Based on ethnographic accounts of two women’s mourning assemblies observed along the pilgrimage route and in the city of Karbala in 2023, several key features can be identified.
From a formal perspective, these gatherings can be analyzed in terms of participants’ dress and appearance, modes of mourning performance, and the organization of ritual space. The attire of female participants, whether Iraqi or from other national and ethnic backgrounds, generally reflects the practical requirements of a long and demanding pilgrimage undertaken under challenging conditions.
Other notable characteristics include the informal and often circular arrangement of participants, usually without distinctions based on age, social status, nationality, or ethnicity; close and direct interaction between pilgrims and female reciters or eulogists; the performance and reception of elegies in multiple languages and cultural styles; and the largely spontaneous organization of the gatherings without a clearly designated sponsor or institutional organizer. These ceremonies are typically adapted to local environmental conditions, involve minimal logistical arrangements, and are generally simple in form, making limited use of sophisticated audiovisual technologies. From a thematic perspective, many of the poems and elegies recited in these gatherings are drawn from repertoires previously popularized by well-known male eulogists in countries such as Iran and Iraq and are therefore familiar to many participants. Another significant feature is the presence of children—both girls and boys under approximately seven or eight years of age—who are permitted to attend women’s spaces. These children may be regarded as living witnesses to the ritual events, contributing to the intergenerational transmission of memories, practices, and meanings associated with the Arba’in pilgrimage and women’s mourning traditions.
Conclusion: The findings indicate that women’s mourning gatherings within the Arba’in pilgrimage are characterized by a high degree of fluidity and adaptability. Their organizational structures and ritual frameworks are continuously shaped by the dynamic conditions of the pilgrimage environment. Through the blending of ritual forms and the incorporation of diverse mourning practices, these gatherings generate new configurations of religious expression. In this sense, women’s mourning ceremonies during Arba’in can be understood as mobile and fluid ritual practices that evolve alongside the movement of pilgrims, both formally and thematically. This fluidity contributes to the enrichment of participants’ sacred experiences and religious lives, even when manifested in temporary, fragmented, and localized forms. Such flexibility and responsiveness to the spiritual atmosphere of the pilgrimage constitute one of the defining characteristics of these women’s mourning gatherings.