A Look at the Islamic Mourning of Ashura

Of all the holidays on the planet, there is perhaps none so unique as the Shi'ite festival of Ashura, which is aimed at commemorating the death of Husyan Ali, the grandson of Muhammad at the Battle of Karbala. No, not the Battle of Karbala that took place between the Badr Brigades and the Mahdi Army that triggered Muqtada al-Sadr's ceasefire, but the original one that took place in 680 A.D. between the Umayyads and the followers of the aforementioned Husyan Ali. While the Umayyad Dynasty were not exclusively Sunni this is regarded as the opening moment between the Shi'ite-Sunni schism.

The battle was not titanic in scope, but it is now marked in the Shi'ite calendar as a key point in their history, with celebrations marking what is called the Remembrance of Muharram. The time of Muharram is celebrated by both sects of Islam, however the Sunnis regard this as a time of fasting, hoping to mimic Moses's fasting in praise of the Israelites' release from the Pharaohs of Egypt.

The Umayyads were the first dynasty of Islamic Caliphs, and were integral in the carving of the early Muslim empire, which eventually went on to conquer southern Spain, Sicily, and even went on to a successful sacking of the Christian holy city of Rome. Though they have been lambasted by historians for what some Muslims refer to as their tyrannical power mongering, most Sunnis have a largely positive view of the initial generations of the dynasty, recalling Quranic verses that implore Muslims to not speak ill of Muhammad's companions.

The Umayyad Dynasty, however, tends to fall out of favor with the Sunnis following the death of Muawiyah I - following him, their criticism is seen as freely allowed, and they gave it willingly.

The Shi'ites have never had a high opinion of any member of the Umayyads, as seen by their attempted revolution against them in 680 A.D. This culminated in the historically important Battle of Karbala, which one could call the Shi'ia equivalent of the Battle of Thermopylae. Though Yazid I, the current Caliph, commanded the Umayyads and so in turn ruled the Arab Empire of the time, Husayn Ali held powerful friends in key family members of Muhammad himself. This made Husayn's refusal to swear allegiance to Yazid a powerful statement of defiance to the current Caliphate, sending shockwaves across the empire.

According to legend, the battle was remarkably one sided - with Yazid bringing as many as 50,000 men with him to quell Husayn Ali and his 71 companions. A number of prayers were exchanged, a pledge was made to not use javelins or arrows due to Ali's small numbers (which was later violated by Yazid), and Ali made himself ready for battle. Naturally, there was no hope for Ali, whose martyrdom at the battle is the catalyst for both Ashura and the current sectarian conflict between Shi'ites and Sunnis.

Perhaps most amazing is that, also according to legend, these 72 men managed to kill 4,000 of Yazid's men in both large, battlefield clashes, and in challenging the enemy to one on one duels. In the end though, Ali's men were totally destroyed, and his own head was brought back as a message to dissent.

The result was Ashura - a day of lamentation and what some Westerners consider a bizarre ritual of self mutilation that holds some closeness to the ancient practice of flagellation. Using chains and knives, mourners will throng through streets of Shi'ite cities and lacerate themselves and their children, staining the road in blood.

Grand Ayatollah Khameini of Iran, however, has forbidden the use of knives to damage one's head, which has resulted in simple "blood donations" in place of the self-lacerations.

In addition to the self mutilation, Shi'ites flock to their mosques and recite teary eyed prayers, specifically the prayers of marsiya, noha, latmiya, and soaz. In addition to what some consider simple mourning over the martyrdom of Ali, some have commented that there's a deeply political reason for this large scale scorn. Specifically, the death of Ali represents the eventual marginalization of the Shi'ites, and many regard it as the "tainting" of Islam by Yazid. Therefore, in addition to being a tragedy of oppression, it is also mourning the whole of the now minority Shi'ite nation.

However, Westerners are often put off by the stories they hear of the self-mutilation, especially when images often arise of children's heads being cut by their fathers. Nevertheless, this remains one of the most important times on the Shi'ite calendar.

Sources:

http://www.theconnection.org/shows/2003/04/20030407_b_main.asp - Karbala
http://www.al-islam.org/history/history/marsiyya.html - The Battle of Karbala
http://www.truthformuslims.com/articles/marion_2003_04_02_karbala.htm - The Battle of Karbala
http://www.aimislam.com/external/ashura-campaign - Ashura Campaign
http://sunninews.wordpress.com/2008/01/16/karbala-%E2%80%93-a-lesson-for-mankind/ - Karbala - A Lesson for Mankind