My name is Gulamraza Datoo and I am the President of KSIMC of Birmingham.

This Arbaeen I have been blessed to visit Kerbala and perform the walk from Najaf to Kerbala.

There is a Hadith from Imam Jafar-e-Sadiq (as)'s on visiting Kerbala: "If one of our Shia goes for Imam Husain's (AS) Ziarat, then he will not return but all his sins will be forgiven. For every step that he or his mount takes, 1,000 virtues are written for him, 1,000 sins are forgiven and his status is elevated by a 1,000 degrees".

The purpose of this walk is to get a small glimpse of the hardships felt by the family of our Holy Prophet following the tragedy of Kerbala. As I prepare myself for this walk, I reflect on the great sacrifices made by Imam Husayn (AS) and his family in order to safeguard our Madhab and ensure we stay on the right path. I ask myself, what sacrifices should I be making? How can I play a part to ensure our Community remains on the right path?

In Birmingham Alhamdulillah we have an active Community with a range of activities at our centre, but our facilities are not adequate. We need bigger and better facilities to appropriately cope with the demand.

As part of this walk I am planning to raise funds for our Abbasi Islamic Centre Project. All funds raised shall be dedicated to the Leaders, Volunteers and Members of Birmingham Jamaat who have passed away. These individuals have played a significant role to where we are today as a Community.

Our centre has been named after Hazrat Abbas (AS). I hope to visit his shrine and pray for the success of our project as we look to develop a strong and vibrant Community preparing for the reappearance of our 12th Imam (AS).

I invite you to play a part in this noble initiative. Please donate generously towards this cause.