- Title: RELIGION-ASHURA/BAHRAIN Shi'ites commemorate Ashura in Bahraini capital
- Date: 24th October 2015
- Summary: MEDICS TREATING A MOURNER MEN HOLDING A PAINTING OF A HORSE AT THE BATTLE OF KARBALA MOURNERS SELF-FLAGELLATING WHILE WALKING MEN WALKING WITH AN ASHURA BANNER WITH NAMES OF HUSSEIN AND HIS FAMILY
- Embargoed: 8th November 2015 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Bahrain
- Country: Bahrain
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVAAYHIF1DBTD0O5W1M0XH2SZO0
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS GRAPHIC MATERIAL
Thousands of Shi'ite Muslims converged on the capital Manama from across Bahrain to take part in an Ashura procession on Saturday (October 24), mourning the death of the Prophet Mohammad's grandson Hussein in a lost battle in Karbala 1,300 years ago, an event central to the split between Sunni and Shi'ite Islam and marked by Shi'ites around the world with weeping and prayer.
Mourners participating in the procession were bloody from beating themselves with steel-tipped flails, chains and swords in an effort to experience the pain endured by Hussein.
Shi'ites Muslims, which make up nearly 15 percent of the Islamic world, mourn for a month as part of the festival that ends with large processions.
Ashura, which falls on the 10th day of the first month of the Islamic calendar, is observed in Iraq and other countries with sizeable Shi'ite communities, including Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Bahrain.
Bahrain, which hosts the U.S. Fifth Fleet, has experienced sporadic turmoil since mass protests in 2011 led by majority Shi'ites demanding reforms and a bigger role in government. That uprising was put down with military help from Saudi Arabia. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None