Ashura | |
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Ashura mourning in Imam Hossein Square, Tehran, 2016
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Official name | Arabic: عاشوراء ʻĀshūrā’ |
Also called | |
Observed by | Shi'a Muslims and Sunni Muslims |
Type | Islamic and national (In some countries such as Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Iran, Turkey, Lebanon, Pakistan, Iraq, and India) |
Significance | Marks the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali according to Shi'a Islam; the day that Moses fasted as gratitude for the liberation of the Israelites according to Sunni Islam |
Observances | Mourn and derive messages from Husayn's sacrifice (Shi'a Islam) Fasting (Sunni Islam) |
Date | 10 Muharram |
2016 date | 11 October or 12 October |
2017 date | 30 September |
Frequency | annual |
Ashura (Arabic: عاشوراء ʻĀshūrā’, colloquially: /ʕa(ː)ˈʃuːraʔ/; Urdu: عاشورا; Persian: عاشورا /ɒːʃuːˈɾɒ/; Azerbaijani: Aşura Günü or English: Day of Remembrance) is the tenth day of Muharram in the Islamic calendar.
For Shi'a Muslims, Ashura marks the climax of the Remembrance of Muharram, and commemorates the death of Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad at the Battle of Karbala on 10 Muharram in the year 61 AH ( in AHt: October 10, 680 CE). The massacre of Husayn with a small group of his companions and family members had a great impact on the religious conscience of Muslims, particularly Shi'a Muslims, who commemorate Husayn's death with sorrow and passion. Mourning for Husayn and his companions by his surviving relatives and supporters began almost immediately after the Battle of Karbala. Popular elegies were written by poets to commemorate the Battle of Karbala during the Umayyad and Abbasid era, and the earliest public mourning rituals occurred in 963 CE during the Buyid dynasty. In Afghanistan,Iran,Iraq, Lebanon,Azerbaijan, Turkey, Bahrain, and Pakistan, the Commemoration of Husayn ibn Ali has become a national holiday, and most ethnic and religious communities participate in it. In India, Ashura (the 10th day in the month of Muharram) is a public holiday due to the presence of a significant Indian Shia Muslim population (2–3% of total population, 20–25% of Indian Muslim population).