It's Ashura today, the most important date in the year for Iraq's Shi'as.
They're commemorating the day in the seventh century when their great Imam, Hussein, was killed in battle at Kerbala. It's a time to grieve, and to reassert the faith.
Saddam Hussein's regime is dominated by Sunni Muslims, although Shi'as are in the majority. After the Gulf war in 1991 an uprising by the Shi'as in southern Iraq was quelled by the army.
Until the 1960s, Ashura was celebrated with huge processions and people flailing themselves. Today it's more muted, because the government wants no disorder.
But the government also wants the loyalty of the Shi'as, so this year the President allocated a million pounds to buy rice and meat for distribution.
Early this morning, out on the streets, huge aluminum pots were heaved onto bricks and fires lit beneath. Hundreds queued to get their food.
Thousands more cooked all night at home, and distributed what they'd made to their neighbours - we watched a few little girls in long velvet dresses eagerly running up and down their street carrying enamel dishes of steaming porridge.
At the shrine to Kadhimiya, a descendent of the prophet, we mingled with families who came to pray.
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Even I had to don the all-encompassing black robe, like all the other women. When I tried to ask people about the significance of their holy day, they would talk at first but as crowds gathered they launched into the normal chant of "Saddam! Saddam!"
The government's making a lot of effort to woo and warn the Shi'as. A documentary called The Conspiracy has been airing on television. It shows the violence of the 1991 uprising, and the way it was put down.
The message is clear: without Saddam Hussein, Iraq could descend into chaos. The Shi'as should remember that.
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