Ashura

Ashura
Ashura commemorating martyrdom of Prophet's grandson, Tehran, 2016
Official name	عَاشُورَاء ʿĀshūrāʾ (in Arabic)
Also called	Hosay, Tabuik, Tabot, The Day of Atonement
Observed by	Muslims
Type	Islamic and national (In some countries such as Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Iran, Lebanon, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and Iraq)
Significance	Marks the day that Musa was saved by God; Marks the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali and members of his family
Observances	Fasting, mourning
Date	10 Muharram
2020 date	29 August[1]
2021 date	19 August[1]
2022 date	09 August[1]
Frequency	Once every Islamic year

Part of a series on
Musa
The name Musa written in Islamic calligraphy followed by Peace be upon him
Revelations Ten Commandments Tawrat Ṣuḥuf Mūsā
Family Asiya Harun Shuaib Samiri
Miracles Golden calf Dividing sea
Related articles Ashura Jabal Musa Ulu'l azm prophets
Category:Prophecy in Islam Islam portal
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Part of a series on
Husayn
Husayn ibn Ali written in Islamic calligraphy followed by Allah be please with him
Life Family tree Ahl al-Bayt Ahl al-Kisa Battle of Karbala Sayyid
Remembrance Maqtal al-Husayn Casualties of Husayn's caravan in Karbala Sermon of Zaynab bint Ali in the court of Yazid Sermon of Ali ibn Husayn in Damascus Mourning of Muharram (Majlis-e-Aza) Day of Ashura Day of Tasu'a Lohoof Azadari in Lucknow Arba'een(Ziyarat,Pilgrimage) Imam Husayn Shrine Ziyarat of Ashura Hussainiya Marsiya Noha Maddahi Soaz Ta'zieh Tabuik Hosay Chehel Minbari Chup Tazia Tatbir Hussaini Dalan Rawda Khwani
Perspectives The Twelve Imams The Fourteen Infallibles
Related articles Ashura
Category:Prophecy in Islam Islam portal
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Ashura (Arabic: عَاشُورَاء‎, romanized: ʿĀshūrāʾ [ʕaːʃuːˈraːʔ]) is an Islamic holiday that occurs on the tenth day of Muharram, the first month in the Islamic lunar calendar.^[4] For Muslims, Ashura marks the day in which the Islamic prophet Musa was saved by Allah when He parted the Sea while leading the children of Israel to the land of Israel. Furthermore, for Muslims, it marks the day on which the Battle of Karbala took place, resulting in the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a member of the Household of Muhammad (Ahl al-Bayt).

The two main practices performed on the day are fasting and mourning.^[5]

Etymology

The root of the word Ashura has the meaning of tenth in Semitic languages; hence the name of the remembrance, literally translated, means "the tenth day". According to the orientalist A. J. Wensinck, the name is derived from the Hebrew ʿāsōr, with the Aramaic determinative ending.^[6] The day is indeed the tenth day of the month, although some Islamic scholars offer up different etymologies.

Historical background

Musa dividing the sea

The Qurʾān mentions that God instructed Mūsā to travel at night with the Israelites and warns them that they would be captured. The Pharaoh chases the Israelites with his army after realizing that they have left during the night.^[7] The Israelites exclaim to Mūsā that they would be overtaken by Pharaoh and his army. In response, God commands Mūsā to strike the Red Sea with his staff, instructing them not to fear being inundated or drowning in sea water. Upon striking the sea, Mūsā splits it into two parts, forming a path that allows the Israelites to pass through. The Pharaoh witnesses the sea splitting alongside his army, but as they also try to pass through, the sea closes in on them.^[8][9]

Martyrdom of Ḥusayn

The Battle of Karbala took place within the crisis environment resulting from the succession of Yazid I.^[10][11] Immediately after succession, Yazid instructed the governor of Medina to compel Ḥusayn and a few other prominent figures to pledge their allegiance (Bay'ah).^[12] Ḥusayn, however, refrained from making such a pledge, believing that Yazid was openly going against the teachings of Islam and changing the sunnah of Muhammad.^[13][14] He, therefore, accompanied by his household, his sons, brothers, and the sons of Hasan left Medina to seek asylum in Mecca.^[12]

In Mecca, Ḥusayn learned assassins had been sent by Yazid to kill him in the holy city in the midst of Hajj. Ḥusayn, to preserve the sanctity of the city and specifically that of the Kaaba, abandoned his Hajj and encouraged others around him to follow him to Kufa without knowing the situation there had taken an adverse turn.^[12]

On the way, Ḥusayn found that his messenger, Muslim ibn Aqeel, had been killed in Kufa. Ḥusayn encountered the vanguard of the army of Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad along the route towards Kufa. Ḥusayn addressed the Kufan army, reminding them that they had invited him to come because they were without an Imam. He told them that he intended to proceed to Kufa with their support, but if they were now opposed to his coming, he would return to where he had come from. In response, the army urged him to proceed by another route. Thus, he turned to the left and reached Karbala, where the army forced him not to go further and stop at a location that had limited access to water.^[12]

Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad, the governor instructed Umar ibn Sa'ad, the head of the Kufan army, to offer Ḥusayn and his supporters the opportunity to swear allegiance to Yazid. He also ordered Umar ibn Sa'ad to cut off Ḥusayn and his followers from access to the water of the Euphrates.^[12] On the next morning, Umar ibn Sa'ad arranged the Kufan army in battle order.^[12]

The Battle of Karbala lasted from morning to sunset on 10 October 680 (Muharram 10, 61 AH). Husayn's small group of companions and family members (in total around 72 men and the women and children)^{[note 1][16][17]} fought against a large army under the command of Umar ibn Sa'ad and were killed near the river (Euphrates), from which they were not allowed to get water. The renowned historian Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī states:

… [T]hen fire was set to their camp and the bodies were trampled by the hoofs of the horses; nobody in the history of the human kind has seen such atrocities.^[18]

Once the Umayyad troops had murdered Ḥusayn and his male followers, they looted the tents, stripped the women of their jewelry, and took the skin upon which Zain al-Abidin was prostrate. Ḥusayn's sister Zaynab was taken along with the enslaved women to the caliph in Damascus when she was imprisoned and after a year eventually was allowed to return to Medina.^[19][20]

Commemoration of the death of Husayn ibn Ali

Millions of Shia Muslims gather around the Husayn Mosque in Karbala after making the pilgrimage on foot during Arba'een, which is a Shia religious observation that occurs 40 days after the Day of Ashura.

History of the commemoration by Shia

According to Ignác Goldziher,

[E]ver since the black day of Karbala, the history of this family … has been a continuous series of sufferings and persecutions. These are narrated in poetry and prose, in a richly cultivated literature of martyrologies … 'More touching than the tears of the Shi'is' has even become an Arabic proverb.^[21]

The first assembly (majlis) of the Commemoration of Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī is said to have been held by Zaynab in prison. In Damascus, too, she is reported to have delivered a poignant oration. The prison sentence ended when Husayn's four-year-old daughter, Ruqayyah bint Husayn, died in captivity. She would often cry in prison to be allowed to see her father. She is believed to have died when she saw her father's mutilated head. Her death caused an uproar in the city, and Yazid, fearing a potential uprising, freed the captives.^[22]

Imam Zayn Al Abidin said the following:

It is said that for forty years whenever food was placed before him, he would weep. One day a servant said to him, 'O son of Allah's Messenger! Is it not time for your sorrow to come to an end?' He replied, 'Woe upon you! Jacob the prophet had twelve sons, and Allah made one of them disappear. His eyes turned white from constant weeping, his head turned grey out of sorrow, and his back became bent in gloom,^{[note 2]} though his son was alive in this world. But I watched while my father, my brother, my uncle, and seventeen members of my family were slaughtered all around me. How should my sorrow come to an end?'^{[note 3][23][24]}

Husayn's grave became a pilgrimage site among Shia Muslims only a few years after his death. A tradition quickly developed of pilgrimage to the Imam Husayn Shrine and the other Karbala martyrs, known as Ziarat ashura.^[25] The Umayyad and Abbasid caliphs tried to prevent construction of the shrines and discouraged pilgrimage to the sites.^[26] The tomb and its annexes were destroyed by the Abbasid caliph Al-Mutawakkil in 850–851 and Shia pilgrimage was prohibited, but shrines in Karbala and Najaf were built by the Buwayhid emir 'Adud al-Daula in 979–80.^[27]

Public rites of remembrance for Husayn's martyrdom developed from the early pilgrimages.^[28] Under the Buyid dynasty, Mu'izz ad-Dawla officiated at public commemoration of Ashura in Baghdad.^[29] These commemorations were also encouraged in Egypt by the Fatimid caliph al-'Aziz.^[30] With the recognition of

Name of the Karbala martyr Husayn with Islamic calligraphy in Hagia Sophia

Twelvers as the official religion by the Safavids, Mourning of Muharram extended throughout the first ten days of Muharram.^[25]

Azadari (mourning) rituals

The words Azadari (Persian: عزاداری) which mean mourning and lamentation; and Majalis-e Aza have been exclusively used in connection with the remembrance ceremonies for the martyrdom of Imam Hussain. Majalis-e Aza, also known as Aza-e Husayn, includes mourning congregations, lamentations, matam and all such actions which express the emotions of grief and above all, repulsion against what Yazid stood for.^[31]

Ritual scourge for use in the Ashura procession. Syria, before 1974

These religious customs show solidarity with Husayn and his family. Through them, people mourn Husayn's death and express regret for the fact that they were not present at the battle to fight and save Husayn and his family.^[32][33]

Tuwairij run

Tuwairij run is the name of a ceremony in which millions of people on the day of Ashura from an area called Tuwairij in 22 km run and mourning on side of the Imam Husayn Shrine.^[34] this ceremony is considered as the biggest observance of religious activities in the world.^[35][36] The importance of this ceremony has been formed since Moḥammad Mahdī Baḥr al-ʿUlūm was quoted as saying that Hujjat bin Hasan was present at this ceremony.^[37]

Millions of marches

Every year millions of people attend this religious ceremony to mourn Hussein ibn Ali and his companions.^{[38][39][40][41][42]}

History

Tuwairij was first run on Ashura 1855 when people were at the house of Seyyed Saleh Qazvini after the mourning ceremony and the recitation of the murder of Husain bin ‘Ali they cried so much for the grief and sorrow that they lost their loved ones because of this tragedy.due to this tragedy they asked Seyyed Saleh to run to the imam's shrine to offer his condolences. Seyyed Saleh also accepted this request and went to the shrine with all the mourners. in this march other mourners joined them.^{[43][44][45][46]}

Prohibition of the march

The march was banned by Saddam Hussein’s Ba‘athist regime between 1991 and 2003.^[47][48] However, despite the ban, Tuwairij was held and the regime executed many participants.^{[citation needed]} This religious ceremony was held in public after 2003, and its participation has steadily increased from outside of Iraq.^[49]

Popular customs

After almost 12 centuries, five types of major rituals were developed around the battle of Karbala. These rituals include the memorial services (majalis al-ta'ziya), the visitation of Husayn's tomb in Karbala particularly on the occasion of the tenth day of Ashura and the fortieth day after the battle (Ziyarat Ashura and ziyarat al-Arba'in), the public mourning processions (al-mawakib al-husayniyya) or the representation of the battle of Karbala in the form of a play (the shabih), and the flagellation (tatbir).^[50] Some Shia Muslims believe that taking part in Ashura washes away their sins.^[51] A popular Shia saying has it that "a single tear shed for Husayn washes away a hundred sins".^[52]

For Shia Muslims, the commemoration of Ashura is not a festival but rather a sad event, while Sunni Muslims view it as a victory God gave to Moses. For Shia Muslims, it is a period of intense grief and mourning. Mourners congregate at a mosque for sorrowful, poetic recitations such as marsiya, noha, , and soaz performed in memory of the martyrdom of Husayn, lamenting and grieving to the tune of beating drums and chants of "Ya Hussain". Also, Ulamas give sermons with themes of Husayn's personality and position in Islam, and the history of his uprising. The Sheikh of the mosque retells the Battle of Karbala to allow his listeners to relive the pain and sorrow endured by Husayn and his family and they read Maqtal Al-Husayn.^[50][53] In some places, such as Iran, Iraq, and the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, passion plays known as Ta'zieh^[54] are performed, reenacting the Battle of Karbala and the suffering and martyrdom of Husayn at the hands of Yazid. In the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica Ashura, known locally as 'Hussay' or Hosay is commemorated for the grandson of Muhammad, but its celebration has adopted influence from other religions including Roman Catholic, Hindu, and Baptists, making it a mixture of different cultures and religion. The event is attended by both Muslims and non-Muslims depicting an environment of mutual respect and tolerance.^[55][56] For the duration of the remembrance, it is customary for mosques and some people to provide free meals (Nazri or Votive Food) on certain nights of the month to all people.^[57]

Certain traditional flagellation rituals such as Talwar zani (talwar ka matam or sometimes tatbir) use a sword. Other rituals such as zanjeer zani or zanjeer matam involve the use of a zanjeer (a chain with blades).^[58] This is not without controversy however as some Shia clerics have denounced the practice saying "it creates a backward and negative image of their community." Believers are instead encouraged to donate blood to those in need.^[59] On Ashura, very few Shia Muslims observe mourning with a blood donation, which is called "Qame Zani", and flailing. This mourning is considered to be a way for most Shia Muslims and most of them are against this kind of mourning.^[60] In some areas, such as in the Shia suburb of Beirut, Shia communities organize blood donation drives with organizations like the Red Cross or the Red Crescent on Ashura as a replacement for self-flagellation rituals like tatbir and qame zani.^[61]

• 

  Indian Shia Muslims carry out a Ta'ziya procession on day of Ashura in Barabanki, India, January 2009.

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  A historic Ashura celebration in Jamaica, which is known locally as Hussay or Hosay

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  Shia Muslims carry out an Al'am procession on the day of Ashura in Barabanki, India, January 2009.

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  Nakhl gardani in cities and villages of Iran

Significance

Part of a series on Islam Shia Islam
Beliefs and practices Monotheism Holy Books Prophethood Succession to Muhammad Imamate Angels Judgment Day Mourning of Muharram Intercession Clergy The Four Companions Arbaʽeen Pilgrimage
Days of remembrance Ashura Arbaʽeen Mawlid Eid al-Fitr Eid al-Adha Eid al-Ghadir Eid al-Mubahala Mourning of Muharram Omar Koshan
History Verse of Purification Two things Mubahala Khumm Fatimah's house First Fitna Second Fitna Battle of Karbala Origin Persecution
Branches and sects Twelvers Jaʽfaris Akhbari Usuli Shaykhi Alawites Zaydi Shiʽa Ismaʽili Mustaʽli Tayyibi Alavi Dawoodi Sulaymani Hafizi Nizari Khoja Satpanth Batini Alevism Bektashi Bektashism and folk religion Qizilbash Alians Hurufism Extinct Shiʽa sects
Ahl al-Kisa Muhammad Ali Fatimah Hasan Husayn
Holy women Fatimah Khadija bint Khuwaylid Umm Salama Zaynab bint Ali Umm Kulthum bint Ali Umm ul-Banin Fatimah bint Hasan Sukayna bint Husayn Rubab Shahrbanu Fatimah bint Musa Hakimah Khātūn Narjis Fatimah bint Asad Umm Farwah bint al-Qasim Sayyida Ruqayya bint Ali Sayyida Nafisa
Shia Islam portal
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Shia Islam

Remembrance by Jafaris, Qizilbash Alevi-Turks and Bektashis together in Ottoman Empire^[62]

Ashura is remembered by Jafaris, Qizilbash Alevi-Turks, and Bektashis together in Ottoman Empire.^[63] This day is of particular significance to Twelver Shia and Alawites, who consider Husayn (the grandson of Muhammad) Ahl al-Bayt, the third Imam to be the rightful successor of Muhammad.^{[citation needed]}

According to Kamran Scot Aghaie, "The symbols and rituals of Ashura have evolved over time and have meant different things to different people. However, at the core of the symbolism of Ashura is the moral dichotomy between worldly injustice and corruption on the one hand and God-centered justice, piety, sacrifice and perseverance on the other. Also, Shiite Muslims consider the remembrance of the tragic events of Ashura to be an important way of worshipping God in a spiritual or mystical way."^[64]

Shia Muslims make pilgrimages on Ashura, as they do forty days later on ʾArbaʿīn, to the Mashhad al-Husayn, the shrine in Karbala, Iraq, that is traditionally held to be Husayn's tomb. On this day Shia is in remembrance, and mourning attire is worn. They refrain from listening to or playing music since Arabic culture generally considers music impolite during death rituals. It is a time for sorrow and for showing respect for the person's passing, and it is also a time for self-reflection when one commits oneself completely to the mourning of Husayn. Shia Muslims do not plan weddings and parties on this date. They mourn by crying and listening to recollections of the tragedy and sermons on how Husayn and his family were martyred. This is intended to connect them with Husayn's suffering and martyrdom, and the sacrifices he made to keep Islam alive. Husayn's martyrdom is widely interpreted by Shia Muslims as a symbol of the struggle against injustice, tyranny, and oppression.^[65] Shia Muslims believe the Battle of Karbala was between the forces of good and evil, with Husayn representing good and Yazid representing evil.^[66]

Shia imams strongly insist that the day of Ashura should not be celebrated as a day of joy and festivity. The day of Ashura, according to Eighth Shia Imam Ali al-Rida, must be observed as a day of rest, sorrow, and total disregard of worldly matters.^[67]

Some of the events associated with Ashura are held in special congregation halls known as "Imambargah" and Hussainia.^[68] The World Sunni Movement celebrates this day as National Martyrs' Day of Muslim nation under the direction of Syed Imam Hayat.^[69]

Sunni Islam

Sunnis regard fasting during Ashura as recommended, though not obligatory, having been superseded by the Ramadan fast.^[70][71] According to hadith record in Sahih Bukhari, Ashura was already known as a commemorative day during which some Meccan residents used to observe customary fasting. Muhammad fasted on the day of Ashura, 10th Muharram, in Mecca. When fasting during the month of Ramadan became obligatory, the fast of Ashura was made non-compulsory.^[72][73]

Judaism

According to Muslim tradition, the Jews also fasted on the tenth day. According to Sunni Muslim tradition, Ibn Abbas narrated that Muhammad came to Medina and saw the Jews fasting on the tenth day of Muharram. He asked, "What is this?" They said, "This is a good day, this is the day when Allah saved the Children of Israel from their enemy and Musa (Moses) fasted on this day." He said, "We have more claim over Musa than you." So he fasted on the day and told the people to fast.^{[72][73][74][75]} This tenth in question is believed to be the tenth of the Jewish month of Tishri, which is Yom Kippur in Judaism.^[76] The Torah designates the tenth day of the seventh month as holy and a fast (Lev. 16, Lev. 23, Num. 29). The word "tenth" in Hebrew is ʿAsarah or ʿAsharah (עשרה‎), which is from the same Semitic root ʿ-SH-R. According to this tradition, Muhammad continued to observe the veneration of Ashura modeled on its Jewish prototype in late September until shortly before his death, when the verse of Nasi' was revealed and the Jewish-type calendar adjustments of the Muslims became prohibited. From then on, Ashura became distinct from its Jewish predecessor of Yōm Kippur.^[77] However, some differ with the claim that Ashura used to correspond with Yōm Kippur due to the fact that the hadith records it was a day of celebration for the Jews not of atonement and the word Ashura may simply come from the Arabic word ʿasharaʾ, also meaning ten.^[78]

A tadjah at Hosay in Port of Spain during the 1950s

Socio-political aspects

Sham Ghariban (the first night in mourn of Husayn) in Imam Reza Shrine, Mashhad, Iran

Commemoration of Ashura has great socio-political value for the Shia, who have been a minority throughout their history. According to the prevailing conditions at the time of the commemoration, such reminiscences may become a framework for implicit dissent or explicit protest. It was, for instance, used during the Islamic Revolution of Iran, the Lebanese Civil War, the Lebanese resistance against the Israeli military presence and in the 1990s Uprising in Bahrain. Sometimes the Ashura commemorations associate the memory of Al-Husayn's martyrdom with the conditions of Islam and Muslims in reference to Husayn's famous quote on the day of Ashura: "Every day is Ashura, every land is Karbala".^[79]

From the period of the Iranian Constitutional Revolution (1905–1911) onward, mourning gatherings increasingly assumed a political aspect. Following an old established tradition, preachers compared the oppressors of the time with Imam Husayn's enemies, the umayyads.^[80]

The political function of commemoration was very marked in the years leading up to the Islamic Revolution of 1978–79, as well as during the revolution itself. In addition, the implicit self-identification of the Muslim revolutionaries with Imam Husayn led to a blossoming of the cult of the martyr, expressed most vividly, perhaps, in the vast cemetery of Behesht-e Zahra, to the south of Tehran, where the martyrs of the revolution and the war against Iraq are buried.^[80]

On the other hand, some governments have banned this commemoration. In the 1930s Reza Shah forbade it in Iran. The regime of Saddam Hussein saw this as a potential threat and banned Ashura commemorations for many years.^[81] In the 1884 Hosay massacre, 22 people were killed in Trinidad and Tobago when civilians attempted to carry out the Ashura rites, locally known as Hosay, in defiance of the British colonial authorities.^[82]

Terrorist attacks during Ashura

Terrorist attacks against Shia Muslims have occurred in several countries, on the day of Ashura, the repeated experience of which has produced an "interesting" feedback effect in Shia history.^[83]

• 1818–1820: Syed Ahmad Barelvi and Shah Ismail Dihlavi took up arms to stop Ashura commemoration in North India. They were the pioneers of anti-Shia terrorism in the subcontinent. Barbara Metcalf noting:

A second group of abuses Syed Ahmad held were those that originated from Shi’i influence. He particularly urged Muslims to give up the keeping of ta’ziyahs, the replicas of the tombs of the martyrs of Karbala taken in procession during the mourning ceremony of Muharram. Muhammad Isma’il wrote, "a true believer should regard the breaking of a tazia by force to be as virtuous an action as destroying idols. If he cannot break them himself, let him order others to do so. If this even be out of his power, let him at least detest and abhor them with his whole heart and soul". Sayyid Ahmad himself is said, no doubt with considerable exaggeration, to have torn down thousands of imambaras, the building that house the taziyahs.^[84]

• 1940: Bomb thrown on Ashura Procession in Delhi, 21 February^[85]
• 1994: explosion of a bomb at the Imam Reza shrine, 20 June, in Mashhad, Iran, 20 people killed^[86]
• 2004: bomb attacks, during Shia pilgrimage to Karbala, 2 March, Karbala, Iraq, 178 people killed and 5000 injured^[87]
• 2008: clashes, between Iraqi troops and members of a Shia cult, 19 January, Basra and Nasiriya, Iraq, 263 people killed^[88]
• 2009: explosion of a bomb, during the Ashura procession, 28 December, Karachi, Pakistan, dozens of people killed and hundreds injured^[89]
• 2010: detention of 200 Shia Muslims, at a shop house in Sri Gombak known as Hauzah Imam Ali ar-Ridha (Hauzah ArRidha), 15 December, Selangor, Malaysia^[90]
• 2011: explosion of a bomb, during the Ashura procession, 28 December, Hilla and Baghdad, Iraq, 5 December 30 people killed^[91]
• 2011: suicide attack, during the Ashura procession, Kabul, Afghanistan, 6 December 63 people killed^[92]
• 2015: three explosions, during the Ashura procession, mosque in Dhaka, Bangladesh, 24 October, one person killed and 80 people injured^[93]

In the Gregorian calendar

While Ashura is always on the same day of the Islamic calendar, the date on the Gregorian calendar varies from year to year due to differences between the two calendars, since the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar and the Gregorian calendar is a solar calendar. Furthermore, the appearance of the crescent moon that is used to determine when each Islamic month begins varies from country to country due to the different geographic locations.^{[citation needed]}

Gallery

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  Shias mourning in Iran

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  Ashura procession in Tehran

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  Shias mourning in Chiniot

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  Tuwairij Run in Karbala, Iraq

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  Tabuiks being lowered in Pariaman, Indonesia

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  Shias congregating outside the Sydney Opera House in Australia.

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  Shias mourning in Qatif, Saudi Arabia

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  Ashura in Syria

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  Ashura Demonstration in Tehran in 1978

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  2016 Ashura mourning in Imam Husayn Square

See also

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ashura.

• Gordon B. Coutts (Scottish/American, 1868–1937) A Large Oil on Canvas Depicting "The Ashura Rituals, Tangier" (Arabic: عاشوراء ʻĀshūrā’ – Urdu: عاشورا – Persian: عاشورا – Turkish: Aşure Günü). Signed and inscribed: 'Gordon Coutts/TANGIER (lower right). c. 1920
• Is Aashura a day of mourning or rejoicing?
• Ashura – The Historical Significance and Rewards on Islam Freedom
• Events on the day of Ashura
• "Ashura" An article in Encyclopædia Britannica Online
• What is Ashura? (BBC News)
• What Is Ashura? – by Abdul-Ilah As-Saadi on Al Jazeera
• Ashura Australia – Official website of the Annual Ashura Procession in Sydney