TEHRAN (MNA) – With the first ten days of Muharram rolling around, millions of Shia Muslims in Iran and beyond prepare to commemorate the anniversary of the tragic martyrdom of Imam Hussein (AS) and his companions.
Muharram religious rituals, which culminate in Ashura (literally meaning 10 as the battle of Karbala took place on the 10th day of the month), are held annually with special arrangements. During these ten days, mourners gather in settings called “Majlis Aza’a,” which means a mourning gathering and often includes two parts: the first part is held inside a mosque or Hussainiya and features a cleric reciting the virtues of the Imam while the second part features a panegyrist reciting poems to a chest-beating crowd of mourners.
The Day of Ashura marks the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein (AS), the grandson of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) who got martyred in the Battle of Karbala on October 10, 680 (Muharram 10, 61 AH), nearly 14 centuries ago.
Although centuries have passed since that event, it continues to inspire countless numbers of Shia Muslims and even non-Muslims around the world to borrow a page from Imam Hussein’s altruistic book in their quest for freedom and emancipation. Imam Hussein (AS) was a renowned Muslim figure in Medina who was known for piety and virtue. Around the same time, a succession was taking place in Damascus, the seat of the Umayyad caliphate, which resulted in Mu’awiyah naming Yazid the next caliph, a move that sent shockwaves across the Muslim world as Yazid wasn’t qualified for assuming the leadership of the nascent Islamic government.