Why isn't this designation found in the Ziyarat of Ashura, Arafah, or other sacred visits?
This is a question that lingers in the minds of many Shi’a.
✱ As for the answer:
There is a common misconception that “Ziyarat al-Arbaeen” refers simply to visiting Imam al-Husayn (peace be upon him) on a single day — the 20th of Safar — and that this one-day act is what marks a believer.
This understanding is inaccurate.
The mention of Ziyarat al-Arbaeen in the hadith is not just about one calendar day — it refers to an entire spiritual season, a comprehensive Hussaini experience that begins with Ashura and extends all the way to Arbaeen. It’s not a single day, but rather a complete forty-day journey, both temporally and spiritually.
Some people try to separate Ashura from Arbaeen. But Ashura without Arbaeen is an incomplete picture — a fragmented narrative. The Hussaini project, in its symbolic timing and ritual structure, begins in Muharram and culminates on Arbaeen.
As is often said:
Arbaeen is the final seal — the concluding stroke of divine purpose.
It is the day of validation, the day of fulfillment, and for that reason, it has become a sign of the true believer.
If a Shi’a only pays attention to the day of Arbaeen and disregards the preceding days — living in distraction, heedlessness, and detachment from Imam al-Husayn (peace be upon him) — then merely showing up on the 20th of Safar is not a true act of devotion or loyalty.
The Arbaeen season is a complete structure — a fully integrated spiritual journey. It begins with Muharram and ends with Arbaeen. If a believer is truly “Hussaini” during this span — reviving the cause of Imam al-Husayn (peace be upon him) — then this entire forty-day period becomes a true sign of faith.
Just as the narrations say:
“Whoever devotes forty mornings to God, springs of wisdom will flow from his heart to his tongue.”
Similarly, whoever devotes forty mornings to Imam al-Husayn — from Ashura to Arbaeen — then that forty-day devotion becomes a sign of the believer. And through divine success, the Imam of our time (may Allah hasten his reappearance) will cause the fountains of Hussaini knowledge to gush from that believer’s heart and flow from his tongue.
This is what is meant when we say that Ziyarat al-Arbaeen is a sign of the believer. It does not mean that just visiting on the 20th of Safar is the sign — no!
Indeed, all visits to Imam al-Husayn (peace be upon him) are signs of belief. Even visiting him from afar is a mark of faith. If someone visits while driving their car — that too counts.
And even visiting the Shi’a of Ahl al-Bayt is considered a sign of belief, not only visiting the Maʿsumeen (peace be upon them). The Ahl al-Bayt themselves have indicated this meaning, as Imam al-Ridha (peace be upon him) said:
“Whoever cannot visit us should visit our righteous followers; it will be written for him as though he visited us. And whoever cannot maintain ties with us should maintain ties with our righteous followers; it will be written for him as though he maintained ties with us.”
[Kamil al-Ziyarat]
So yes — everything within the Shi’a doctrinal and spiritual system is a sign of the believer.
But Ziyarat al-Arbaeen holds a special distinction among all those signs.
Why?
Because it represents a complete, integrated, ritual and theological system — a full forty-day Hussaini cycle that begins in Muharram and ends with Arbaeen.
There are unfortunately people — even within Shi’ism, including some clerics — who deny the historical reality of Arbaeen, or the return of the captives to Karbala on the 20th of Safar. They cut Ashura off from its full conclusion, turning the Hussaini narrative into a severed image.
That is why Ziyarat al-Arbaeen is a sign of the believer — because it restores the full image, the unbroken flow of the Hussaini season from Muharram to Arbaeen. It confirms the continuous spiritual clock of mourning and revival.
As the narrations say:
When the month of Muharram begins, the angels raise the bloodied shirt of Imam al-Husayn (peace be upon him) as a sign — a declaration that the Hussaini time has begun, and it continues ticking until the day of Arbaeen.
This is the complete Hussaini arc that marks the believer — not just the 20th of Safar in isolation.
The true believer is the one who lives in the spirit of Imam al-Husayn throughout the full forty days — reviving his mission, mourning his tragedy, embodying his message. That is the sign the Ahl al-Bayt meant when they spoke of Ziyarat al-Arbaeen as a mark of faith.