Mourning Festival Galvanises Shia

As he commemorates the seventh-century slaying of the revered Imam Hussein, Ali Mohammed Hassnain wonders whether he and his companions will face a similar fate on the long road to Karbala.

“If we were targeted by a suicide bomber, it would be useful for my family,” he said. Unemployed and unmarried, the 28-year-old graduate of management studies said he had nothing to lose in death.

“Having failed so far in life, I may win in this... I am a burden on my family,” he said, setting off on foot from his home in Sadr City, an impoverished Shia suburb of Baghdad.

Tens of thousands of Iraqi Shia Muslims have been converging on the holy city of Karbala this week to mark the end of the annual period of mourning for Imam Hussein. The Imam was killed at Karbala in a battle dating back to the earliest days of Islam and to the emergence of the schism between Shia and Sunni Muslims.

In the seven years since United States-led forces toppled Saddam Hussein, the ancient martyrdom has taken on a poignant meaning for Iraq’s Shia majority. Their parties have grown powerful in Baghdad, yet their country and community have been reshaped by a vicious sectarian war with the minority Sunnis.

Though the conflict has somewhat eased, danger still stalks the route to Karbala.

Thousands of police officers and soldiers watch over the pilgrims, most of whom travel by foot in a journey taking several days. Roadside stalls offering rest and refreshment are especially vulnerable. Bombings killed dozens of Shia pilgrims in northern Baghdad and Karbala this week [See: Shia Pilgrim Bombing Raises Sectarian Fears].

Many Shia see the violence that plagues Iraq today as a continuation of the conflict that killed Imam Hussein hundreds of years ago. They regard the Imam as a righteous warrior defeated by the dominant establishment of his time, as much a revolutionary hero as a religious icon.

“The brave Hussein and his family were killed brutally and we must keep retelling their story,” said Sajjad Hammodi, a Baghdad teenager dressed in the traditional black clothes of Shia mourners during the month of Muharram.

As he watched a procession of young men ritually flagellating themselves with chains, Hammodi wept and said, “Imam Hussein allowed himself to be sacrificed in order to teach us the meaning of revolution.”

With Iraq gearing up for parliamentary elections in March, political views sometimes merged with religious sentiment. The polls were originally scheduled to take place in January but feuding over the electoral law led to a two-month delay.

“I learnt from the Imam Hussein to speak out against injustice,” said Hasan Mohammed Jawad, a 43-year-old taxi driver in Baghdad. “Today, we have to follow his example and speak out against the American occupier and the Iraqi political leaders who have ruined our country.”

The annual Shia mourning commemoration lasts approximately eight weeks, commencing with Muharram, which fell in December last year, and concluding with the month of Safar, overlapping this year with February.

The holy period is bracketed by major ceremonies on the days of Ashura, near the start of Muharram, and Arabayeen, towards the end of Safar. Both occasions offer an opportunity for devout Shia to make the pilgrimage to Karbala.

Throughout the two-month mourning period, the faithful participate in public ceremonies, often taking time off work. Flagellants march through the streets, striking themselves with knives and whips or beating their chests with their hands. Crowds gather to watch regular re-enactments of the fateful battle of Karbala. Near mosques, vast amounts of food are prepared in public kitchens.

In Baghdad’s Shia neighbourhood of Karrada, Um Qasim, a woman in her early thirties who declined to give her full name, said she was carrying a traditional meal of qeema, or mince, to a sick neighbour who was unable to attend the Muharram ceremony.

“This food will improve her health,” she said.

Her five-year-old son tugged at the plate in his mother’s hand. “He is hungry because we have been waiting here for an hour,” Um Qasim explained.

Nearby, men in black clothes prepared food in vast copper vats to a soundtrack of songs glorifying Imam Hussein.

Religious music is played throughout Shia neighbourhoods during the holy period, broadcast from mosque loudspeakers. In one part of central Baghdad, policemen were seen ritually slapping their chests as devotional music played from their vehicle.

Many streets were bedecked with banners coloured red, green and black. The black symbolises mourning for Imam Hussein, the red for the blood of his sacrifice and the green the colour of the flag he carried into battle.

The visibility of the commemorations is welcomed by many Shia as a sign of their resurgence after decades of oppression by Saddam Hussein’s government, which was dominated by Sunnis.

“People accused us of being ignorant and practicing bad habits,” said Hasan Falah, a government employee in his thirties. “But we do not hurt anybody when performing our ceremonies.”

Shia Muslims interviewed by IWPR emphasised the inclusive aspects of the Muharram commemoration, apparently eager not to alienate other sects and faiths. In a country still haunted by sectarian strife, they stressed that Imam Hussein’s sacrifice was relevant to all Iraqis.

“Muharram is not just sacred for Shia but for all Muslims,” said Asad al-Saeidi, a cleric from the Imam al-Motaqeen mosque in north-eastern Baghdad. “It is the month in which Allah forbids fighting.”

Mohammed Abdullah, a civil servant in his thirties, said the ceremonies provided a chance for Sunnis and Shia to show solidarity against violence.

“By going out in large numbers, we say we are still strong and we won’t be deterred by terrorism. We also say that we are united with the Sunnis who take part in the Muharram ritual,” he said.

Sunnis and Christians living in Shia-dominated neighbourhoods have long taken part in Muharram celebrations.

Omar Mohammed, a Sunni Muslim man from the Bab al-Sham district of Baghdad, said he had learnt from Shia friends to commemorate the death of Imam Hussein.

“I know Hussein’s story, his revolution and its goals,” he said. “He was a volcano against oppression.”

Ameel Suhaib, a 28-year-old engineering student from Palestine Street in eastern Baghdad, said his Christian family had toned down Christmas celebrations because they had overlapped this year with the Shia mourning period.

“Parties and celebrations can be postponed, but not Ashura,” he said.

Ali Kareem is an IWPR-trained reporter in Baghdad. Abeer Mohammed is an IWPR senior local editor in Baghdad.