Spiritual Experience at the Arbaeen Pilgrimage: The Case of Iranian Pilgrims

Abstract

Pilgrimages and other trips with spiritual motivation are one of the first forms of tourism, and today pilgrimage tourism in all its forms has become an important part of the global tourism market. The Arbaeen pilgrimage on foot is a memorable journey on the way to Karbala in Iraq, and most pilgrims, especially Iranians, choose to walk to Karbala from the city of Najaf for this purpose. The purpose of this study is to examine the experiences of Iranian pilgrims who participate in the Arbaeen pilgrimage on foot and to explore what the pilgrims themselves say about their experiences, as well as the main dimensions that shape those experiences. To achieve this goal, data collection was conducted through a questionnaire survey and a total of 407 questionnaires were completed by Iranian pilgrims who participated in this procession for the Arbaeen pilgrimage in 2019 - before the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the results of factor analysis among the 5 initial factors (socio-cultural, spiritual, physical, economic, historical), none of the indicators of the economic factor had a place in the prioritisation of the most important and effective dimensions, and thus, 4 main factors (dimensions) shaping the experience of Iranian pilgrims were classified: the first and most important factor is the spiritual factor, which accounts for a significant proportion of the variance; the spiritual factor was followed by the physical, historical, and socio-cultural factors. Accordingly, the conclusion of this research shows that spirituality is the main axis of personal experience for the Arbaeen pilgrimage on foot for Iranian pilgrims and this is indeed a spiritual journey.

Keywords

• spiritual tourism
• tourism experience
• arbaeen pilgrimage
• iran