Enactments
Throughout the procession, enactments (shabih) depict the different stages and events leading to the final battle on Ashura and its grisly aftermath. These pageants include camels and horses and are acted out in full costume with each of the city's neighbourhoods or districts participating in a specific parade. They have been compared to Christian passion plays as adults and children enact an episode of the story of Husayn and his family's last days. Sometimes professional actors play the parts of the men and women in Husayn's camp and ibn Zayid's army. They are often accompanied by musical instruments including drums, cymbals and trumpets. The residents on the procession routes provide drinking water in pottery jugs (hibbs) for passers-by.
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Golden dome of the Holy Shrine |
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Visitation of the shrines (See map)
On entering Old Karbala Shi'a visitors head for the main gold-domed mosque housing Husayn's shrine. The visitation of the shrines, carry the highest importance in Shi'a Islam. Unlike the Hajj, the visitation of Husayn's shrine at Karbala is not an obligatory right that must be performed by Muslims at least once in their life time. It is however greatly encouraged and is regarded as especially auspicious at the time of Muharram.
To visit Husayn's shrine acknowledges the Imam's authority as leader of the Muslim community (and some would say rightful Caliph) and to maintain the contact and understanding between the Shi'a worshipper and their Imam.
As testimony to its new-found religious freedom, the portrait of Saddam Hussein that hung on the Shrine of Imam Husayn is gone. This year as Muslims gather for Muharram, a month of mourning that immortalises a leader who refused to condone the tyranny of an oppressive force, the parallels with the more recent history of Iraq, the overthrow of the Ba'th government, will not be far from anyone's minds.
Memorial Service
On Ashura (10th Muharram), the height of the commemoration, most Shi'a attend informal religious gatherings (ta'azyah) typically in a private home, mosque or at the shrine itself. This centres around a recital of the sufferings and martyrdom of Husayn. The ta'azyah host sends invitations to friends and work colleagues, organises an orator (khateeb) and provide refreshments such as sweets, tea, or a full meal consisting of rice and curry. The goal of the khateeb is to evoke weeping and lamentations from his audience, some will even beat themselves on the chest and call out to Husayn as the narration climaxes.
Read or listen to some of the sermons associated with Ashura.
Back: The commemorations and their meaning
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