However, in recent years, some Shia clerics have been discouraging the bloodletting, saying it creates a backward and negative image of their community. The death of Imam al-Hussein is considered by the Shia community as a symbol of humanity’s struggle against injustice, tyranny and oppression. This is intended to exemplify the suffering Imam al-Hussein experienced shortly before his beheading. Some in the Shia community resort to flagellating themselves with chains and the blunt ends of swords. The primary rituals and observances on Ashura consist of public expressions of mourning. A defiant al-Hussein refused to surrender even though he realised he was outnumbered.Īfter a brief battle, he and his followers were killed. Ali’s son al-Hussein refused to accept Yazid’s legitimacy and fighting between the two broke out.Īl-Hussein, accompanied by his family and a few fighters, faced Yazid’s army. READ MORE: Lebanon Shia in bloody ritual on Ashura They were called Shia, which means “the supporters” in Arabic.Īli was murdered in AD 661 and his leading opponent Muawiya bin Abi Sufiyan became caliph. Their support was based on the wish that the caliphate should stay within the Prophet’s family. In early Islamic history some Muslims supported Ali, cousin of the Prophet and the fourth caliph (temporal and spiritual ruler) of the Muslim community. Sunni Muslims commemorate the day through voluntary fasting. The Prophet Muhammad used to fast on Ashura in Mecca, where it became a common tradition for the early Muslims.īut for the Shia it is also a major religious festival to commemorate the martyrdom of al-Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, who died at the Battle of Karbala in AD 680.Įvery year since then, many Shia mark Ashura by performing a pilgrimage to the mausoleum of Imam al-Hussein, which is traditionally held to be his tomb in Karbala. It marks the day Nuh (Noah) left the Ark and the day Musa (Moses) was saved from the Pharaoh of Egypt by God. Ashura is marked on the tenth day of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, by all Muslims.
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