In Pictures: Shia Mourners Attend Child Martyrs and Mud Slapping Ceremonies
Culture and Society Blog, Kodoom.com Editorial:
During the 10 days of the Islamic month of Muharram, in what some observers call the world's largest religious ritual, millions of black- or green-clad Shia Muslims, including millions in Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Lebanon, India and even countries as far as Trinidad (story link) remember the martyrdom of Hussein, Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, who was killed in a battle in Karbala, today’s Iraq, some 1,338 years ago.
Many Shia Muslims join local promenades or in a procession towards the shrine of Imam Hussein in Karbala, Iraq.
Among this year's local ceremonies in Iran was the large Shirkharegan Hosseini (to commemorate infant martyrs or children of martyrs) ceremony in which thousands of buses carried parents and children to Martyr Children Convention:
Another event included Gel Mali (mud slapping) by mourners in the city of Khorram Abad. The smearing of mud symbolizes mourning and death:
For Shiite Muslims, Hussein is the rightful successor to Prophet Muhammad. The commemoration has also become a symbol for the broader Shiite struggle for justice as a minority in the global Muslim community.
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