IRAQ: Thousands of Shi'ite pilgrims throng the streets around the holy shrines of Imam Hussein and Imam Abbas for Ashura climax

Record ID: 702463

  • Title: IRAQ: Thousands of Shi'ite pilgrims throng the streets around the holy shrines of Imam Hussein and Imam Abbas for Ashura climax
  • Date: 25th November 2012
  • Summary: KERBALA, IRAQ (NOVEMBER 25, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF KERBALA AND IMAM HUSSEIN MINARETS AND DOME VARIOUS OF SHI'ITE PILGRIMS CRYING AND WAVING THEIR ARMS IN TUNE TO RECITAL OF RELIGIOUS POEM GROUP OF WOMEN CRYING AND WAVING THEIR ARMS MORE OF PILGRIMS BEATING THEIR CHESTS IN MOURNING VARIOUS OF CROWD OF SHI'ITE PILGRIMS WEARING BLACK BEATING THEIR CHESTS IN MOURNING INSIDE SHRINE VARIOUS OF SHIITE PILGRIMS CONDUCTING ASHURA CEREMONY NEAR HOLY SHRINE MORE OF PILGRIMS BEATING THEIR CHESTS IN MOURNING SHI'ITE PILGRIMS RUNNING TOWARDS SHRINE OF IMAM AL-HUSSEIN MORE OF SHI'ITES IN BLACK BEATING THEIR HEADS AND WEAVING GREEN FLAGS RUNNING TOWARDS SHRINE MORE OF CROWD OUTSIDE
  • Embargoed: 10th December 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVAB51CTJ2R92PDBRUCZU6TNRS8J
  • Story Text: Thousands of Shi'ite pilgrims filled the streets around the holy shrines of Imam Hussein and Imam Abbas on Sunday (November 25) to commemorate the anniversary of the death of a grandson of the Prophet Mohammad.
    Pilgrims beat their chests to express mourning for Imam Hussein killed in a battle 1,300 years ago.
    Thousands of policemen were deployed in Kerbala to prevent deadly attacks that have blighted the Shi'ite occasion elsewhere in the muslim world Tens of thousands of pilgrims, most wearing black shirts and headdresses packed inside the Imam al-Hussein shrine praying fervently, beating their breasts and wailing for the loss of their martyr.
    The streets outside thronged with thousands more.
    Off to the sides, women dressed in black abbayas -- dresses covering the whole of the body except the face -- wailed or wept loudly as they watched, and cried out "Hussein!".
    The rituals are designed to express Shi'ites' sense of guilt for not having come to Hussein's aid as he faced down an army of opponents, and allow believers to share in the suffering of the martyr, whose death was a key factor in the schism between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims.
    The ceremonies concluded with the masses running from an area called Twerej 20 km east to Kerbala towards the city of Kerbala and specifically towards a spot called the camp (Al Mukaiyam) this run also called Twerej Run which marks the end of Ashura rituals.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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