RELIGION-ASHURA/AFGHANISTAN Afghan Shi'ite Muslims mark Ashura

Record ID: 135974

  • Title: RELIGION-ASHURA/AFGHANISTAN Afghan Shi'ite Muslims mark Ashura
  • Date: 21st October 2015
  • Summary: PEOPLE WATCHING
  • Embargoed: 5th November 2015 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Afghanistan
  • Country: Afghanistan
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAC0K9P50OM21U08X2GEPLPF1EJ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES.
    Afghan Shi'ite Muslims in Kabul on Wednesday (October 21) beat themselves with steel-tipped flails during the Ashura commemorations, a festival to mourn the death of the Prophet Mohammad's grandson Imam Hussein.
    Hussein was killed during battle in 680 AD in Kerbala, now part of modern day Iraq. Many Shi'ites mourn his death by trying to feel his pain.
    "When I beat myself with chains I don't feel any pain in my body because it is all for the love of Imam Hussein (Prophet Muhammad's grandson). If you cut your finger with a knife on other days, you will feel lots of pain but during the days of Ashura when we beat ourselves we never feel any pain," said Abdul Manan, an Afghan Shi'ite Muslim.
    "Imam Hussein stood against despotism and Yazidis and sacrificed himself in order to save Islam, the sacrifice of Imam Hussein's blood kept Islam alive," added Habibullah Yazdanparast, another Afghan shi'ite Muslim.
    Shi'ites Muslims, which make up nearly 15 percent of the Islamic world, mourn for a month as part of the festival.
    Ashura, which falls on the 10th day of the first month of the Islamic calendar, is observed in Iraq and other countries with sizable Shi'ite communities, including Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Iran, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Syria.
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