Photos: Muslims worldwide mark Ashura
Al Jazeera
Ashura is marked on the 10th day of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, by all Muslims.
Tens of thousands of Muslims across the globe on Tuesday observed Ashura, an annual commemoration mourning the seventh-century death of Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Imam Hussein.
Ashura is marked on the 10th day of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, by all Muslims.
It is a particularly important period of mourning for Shia Muslims, as it marks the anniversary of the seventh-century Battle of Karbala in present-day Iraq, when Hussein was killed.
To mourn his death in the year 680, Shia worshippers, wearing black, cry and beat their chests in unison. Some also flagellate themselves with swords and knife-edged chains.
More than 1,340 years after Hussein’s death, Baghdad, Tehran and other major cities were adorned on Tuesday with symbols of Shia piety and repentance: red flags for Hussein’s blood, symbolic black funeral tents and black dress for mourning, and processions of men and boys expressing fervour in the ritual of chest beating and self-flagellation with chains.
