Article Author:
Associated Press
Mehdi Fattahi
Tehran, Iran (AP) — Millions of Shia Muslims from Iran to Afghanistan and Pakistan celebrate the festival of Ashora on Monday. I was. It is the most moving event in their religious calendar, commemorating the martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson Hussein in his seventh century.
Security forces were on high alert against any violence, especially in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. In the past, bloody attacks have ruined festivals in the Middle East as Sunni extremists, who view Shiites as heretics, seized on holy days and targeted mass gatherings of mourners.
Shia Muslims were to celebrate holy days in Iraq and Lebanon on Tuesday. In Lebanon, there is usually a massive procession to lock down Beirut's largest suburb. In Lebanon, power is divided between sects in the country, so Ashorua provides an opportunity for Lebanese Shiites to rise to power.
The crowds of mourners were thin in Kabul, where the country's Shiites have suffered a wave of brazen attacks by local Islamic State affiliates seeking to undermine the new Taliban government. Repeated bombings have unsettled Afghanistan's Hazara Shiite minority. They have previously experienced persecution under the Taliban and fear that the new rulers, who came to power when the US and her NATO forces withdrew a year ago, will continue violence against their communities.
The Shia, who make up more than 10% of his 1.8 billion Muslims in the world, see Hussein as the rightful successor to the Prophet Muhammad. Hussein's death in battle at Sunni hands in Karbala, south of Baghdad, instilled a deep rift in Islam, which continues to play a key role in shaping Shiite identity to this day.
More than 1,340 years after Hussein's martyrdom, Baghdad, Tehran, Islamabad, and other major Middle Eastern capitals are adorned with symbols of Shiite piety and repentance. In mourning, processions of men and boys express their fervor with heartbeats and rituals of self-mutilation in chains.
In Afghanistan and Pakistan, authorities shut down mobile phone services in major cities hosting commemorative events, fearing militant bombings. Pakistani police were mobilized along the marching route. The Taliban have blocked roads leading to Afghanistan's Shia neighborhoods and mosques.
The Taliban have encouraged Shiites to practice their faith. However, they did not designate Ashora a national holiday this year, as Afghan authorities have done in the past. They also banned major processions for fear of violence after a series of bombings targeting Shia-held areas. Shiites appeared in the streets of Kabul and beat their heads and chests in unison. They whipped their bodies with bladed chains until blood splattered the streets.
Afghan mourners took a defiant tone.
"Those who try to stop us from commemorating this day will bury their wishes themselves," said mourner Habibullah Bashardosto, as the community turned to further violence. He added that he was prepared.
"Even if these people we commemorate today are martyred, our next generation will continue on this path," said Bashardst.
Another participant, Ahmadullah Husayni, said attending a bloody ritual behind a targeted attack conveyed a simple message.
Thousands of men and women in black thronged the streets of Tehran in the Shia-majority of Iran. Green feathers, the color of Islam, fluttered in the air. Camels covered in colorful cloth parade through the city, reminiscent of Hussein's departure from Mecca with his little companions. The Iranians mourned and beat their chests and chanted in unison, while some mourners dressed in black wept.
"Somehow I feel that I must mourn, because Imam he Hussein was brutalized and wronged," Tehran procession said Nasrin Bahami, 65, who attended the event. "I love his pride, his courage. He is a symbol and a role model." Hussein is buried in a golden domed temple. Thousands of people usually rush towards the shrine, symbolizing the desire to answer Hussein's cries for help in his final battle.
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Associated Press writers Rahim Fayez and Mounir Ahmed of Islamabad and Isabel Debre of Dubai, United Arab Emirates contributed to this report.
