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Millions of Shias Arrive in Karbala to Mark Ashura |
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Friday, 18 January 2008 |
Shias in their hundreds of thousands crowded the streets of Karbala on Friday, many beating their own backs with metal chains as the annual Ashura ceremonies began building towards a peak.
The shrine city south of Baghdad was heavily guarded as devotees from across the Muslim world flooded through a long series of security checkpoints to reach the main focus of their pilgrimage -- two imposing shrines, one to Imam Hussein and the other to his brother Al-Abbas.
The rituals commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Hussein by armies of the Muslim caliph Yazid in 680 will reach their climax in Karbala on Saturday, but processions marking Shia Islam's holiest commemorations have been held across the country for the past week.
Around two million people are expected to be in Karbala, 110 kilometres (70 miles) south of Baghdad, by Saturday, guarded by a 20,000-strong security force.
The ceremonies have been targeted by insurgents in the past and on Thursday a suicide bomber blew himself up during an Ashura procession outside a mosque in Baquba, 60 kilometres (35 miles) north of Baghdad, killing eight people.
Swarming crowds in Karbala on Friday joined sombre processions in which men and even some boys, accompanied by drummers and youths playing tambourines, beat their chests and engaged in the devotional self-flagellation that characterises the Ashura rituals.
Hussein was decapitated and his body mutilated by Yazid's armies.
To express mourning and solidarity with the uprising of Hussein, Shias all around the world hold commemoration gatherings where men, women and children come together to mourn Imam Hussein, his family and his companions.
Tents and small wooden rooms covered in black fabric and adorned with lights and pictures of Shia sights have sprung up across the city for pilgrims in need of food or seeking a rest from the intense bustle of the streets.
The pilgrims ritually drink a goblet of fresh water to remember the burning thirst that the small group of Imam Hussein endured as they were led through the desert into captivity in Syria.
Enormous pots of rice along with mutton and chickpea stew are tended by devotees, ensuring the pilgrims do not go hungry.
"Ashura becomes more impressive each year," said a man of about 60, with the strong hands of a peasant.
Cloaked in a traditional cape, his head warmed by a Bedouin scarf, hajji Abu Ali remembers the time, under Saddam Hussein, when the Ashura commemorations were prohibited.
"Today even the cold does not prevent us from honouring Imam Hussein," he said while warming himself with a scalding cup of tea.
"He made a sacrifice for us," said Ather Taha, a 16-year-old student from Baghdad with his friend Adel Hussein. "And his sacrifice was for our faith."
"Imam Hussein is an example to us," added his friend.
They were looking forward to the re-enactment on Friday night of the battle of Karbala in which Imam Hussein, who has come to symbolise courage in the face of tyranny and oppression, was killed.
There is also a police and army presence of about 20,000 in Najaf, another shrine city and a stopping point for pilgrims about 50 kilometres (30 miles) from Karbala, police said.
A 48-hour vehicle curfew came into force in Baghdad, Karbala and nine other provinces Thursday evening.
In 2004, 170 pilgrims were killed by bomb attacks in Karbala and Baghdad during the festival, and in January the following year 44 people died when a man armed with an explosives belt and grenades blew himself up next to a crowd of pilgrims near the Hussein mausoleum.
Source: AFP
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