Muharram and Ashura[edit] Main article: Mourning of Muharram Shia Muslims in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in a Hussainia as part of the commemoration of Muharram Shia Muslim children in Amroha, India on camels in front of Azakhana as part of the procession commemorating events on & after Day of Ashura Muharram is a month of remembrance and modern Shia meditation that is often considered synonymous with Ashura. Ashura, which literally means the Tenth in Arabic, refers to the tenth day of Muharram. It is well-known because of historical significance and mourning for the martyrdom of Hussein ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad.[3] Shias begin mourning from the first night of Muharram and continue for ten nights, climaxing on the 10th of Muharram, known as the Day of Ashura. The last few days up until and including the Day of Ashura are the most important because these were the days in which Imam Hussein and his family and followers (including women, children and elderly people) were deprived of water from the 7th onward and on the 10th, Imam Hussain and 72 of his followers were killed by the army of Yazid I at the Battle of Karbala on Yazids orders. The surviving members of Imam Husseins family and those of his followers were taken captive, marched to Damascus, and imprisoned there. Muharram is also observed by Dawoodi Bohras as well as it is not a good festival for muslims in the same way as Shias. They practice prayers on the sayings of the present Dai of Bohras, Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin. On the tenth day of Muharrum, they pray for Hussein till the magrib , when the pray ends. Hussein is considered martyr by Yazid. With the sighting of the new moon the Islamic New Year is ushered in. The first month, Muharram is one of the four sacred months that [Allah] has mentioned in the Quran.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 06:46:56 +0000