Every Day Is Ashura

Date: 21 September 2018 - 21:36

News ID: ۵۷۵۶۹

KABUL (Dispatches) – Several millions of people performed mourning rituals on Thursday to mark Ashura, amid heightened measures in many places to protect against terrorist attacks.
Red and green banners fluttered in some neighborhoods in Kabul, the Afghan capital, while armed volunteer groups stood guard at mosques and major intersections.
Attacks in recent years targeting the country’s mainly Shia Hazara minority have been claimed by an affiliate of Daesh, and worsening security has led to a sharp reduction in large public gatherings.
In Bangladesh, a majority Muslim nation of 160 million, where Takfiri terrorists have targeted Shia shrines and mosques over the past few years, authorities said they had tightened security.
"Although there is no specific threat, we have taken all possible measures to avoid any unexpected incidents,” said Asaduzzaman Mia, the chief of metropolitan police in Dhaka, the capital.
Ashura falls on the 10th day of the lunar calendar month of Muharram and commemorates the martyrdom in 680 AD of Imam Hussein Ibn Ali (AS), one of the grandsons of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him), near Karbala in what is now Iraq.
Mourners mark the event with large public rituals to highlight the sufferings of Imam Hussein (AS) and his companions, whose martyrdom symbolizes a wider struggle against oppression and tyranny.
"It is not just a ritual, but also an occasion to confess the mistakes we have made in the past,” said Humayan Kabir, a Shia Muslim in the old part of Dhaka.
In India, Shia Muslims were making preparations to mark the event on Friday, in line with the customary sighting of the moon.
"We enact the battle of Karbala and want to show that if we had been there we would have fought alongside Hussein and his family,” said Nasir Hussain, a resident of the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir.
Mourners gathered in the financial capital of Mumbai on Thursday for a pre-Ashura procession.
"The stand that Imam Hussein took all those years ago reinforces my belief in the goodness of society,” said Najaf, a mourner in India’s southern tech hub of Bengaluru.
"It reminds me to fight for my beliefs no matter what. He lost the battle, but what he fought for still holds true to this very day.”
In Iran, tens of millions held mourning processions across the country.
Mourners marched in the streets, while others stood by, distributing food, sweets and drinks to the crowd.
Similar ceremonies were held in other Iranian cities and villages where people stopped business and economic activities.
"Every nation is kept alive by its culture, beliefs and rituals," said Rahim Khastou, a lecturer on cultural studies at Karaj Azad University. "Ashura is one such instance that has had a defining role in the Iranian society."
Azam Ardestani, a 49-year-old housekeeper, said Ashura "shows that we should only follow truth and righteousness and that we should be prepared to defend what's righteous."
For Sajjad Teymoori, a 28-year-old civil engineer, it's a symbol of standing up to persecution. "We value Imam Hussein because he gave everything he had for God, to fight oppression and tyranny."