Mourning of Muharram

Mourning of Muharram
Pilgrims gather for the Ashura mourning in Karbala, Iraq, 2016. About 6.5 million people are estimated to have gathered in Karbala this year.
Type	Islamic
Significance	Marks the death of Hussein ibn Ali (Shi'a Islam, Sunni Islam)
Observances	Mourn and derive messages from Hussein's Sacrifice (Shi'a Islam); Fasting (Sunni Islam)
2016 date	October 2
2017 date	September 21
2018 date	September 11
2019 date	August 31

The Mourning of Muharram, Remembrance of Muharram, or Muharram Observances, is a set of rituals associated with both Shia and Sunni, which takes place in Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar. Many of the events associated with the ritual take place in congregation halls known as Hussainia.

The event marks the anniversary of the Battle of Karbala when Imam Hussein ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad, was killed by the forces of the second Umayyad caliph Yazid I at Karbala. Family members, accompanying Hussein ibn Ali, were killed or subjected to humiliation. The commemoration of the event during yearly mourning season, from first of Muharram to twentieth of Safar with Ashura comprising the focal date, serves to define Shia communal identity. At present, Muharram observances are carried out in countries with a sizable Shia population.

The words Azadari (Persian: عزاداری) which mean mourning and lamentation; and Majalis-e Aza have been exclusively used in connection with the remembrance ceremonies for the martyrdom of Imam Hussain. Majalis-e Aza, also known as Aza-e Husayn, includes mourning congregations, lamentations, matam and all such actions which express the emotions of grief and above all, repulsion against what Yazid stood for.

Expression of grief with thumping of the chest by Shia Muslims is known as Latmya, Latmaya or latmia in Arabic-Persian countries. In India and Pakistan it is called Matam or Matam-Dari/Sina Zannee (chest beating).