— Carrying banners with an air of defiance, thousands of Shiite Muslims
made the trek toward southern holy cities Friday to lament the death of
a revered 7th century martyr even as they grieved for at least 30
Iraqis killed in recent days.
Bombs targeted the marchers and their supporters
Thursday and Friday, an apparent attempt to stoke sectarian discord and
interrupt Ashoura, a Shiite observance that commemorates the death in
680 AD of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, Imam Hussein. Ashoura falls
in the first month of Islam’s lunar calendar, which this year coincides
with Christmas and
minority also marked a tense holiday, after a historic church was
bombed last week and a scuffle with Shiites erupted Friday before
Christmas Mass near the northern city of
In
the Islamic New Year is marked with somber rituals that build up to
Ashoura on Sunday, when a million or more pilgrims are expected to
converge on the city of
Despite the bloodshed, Shiites vowed to carry on with their ceremonies
— which include staging passion plays and cooking special dishes —
though many said they’d add extra prayers to protect
“We pray to leave behind the political differences,
the sectarian differences, the ethnic differences. We have to look to
the future as one country and one people,” said Abbas Redha al-Zubeidi,
65, caretaker of the popular Sayyid Idris shrine in
“If God sees us making an effort to unite, then we can move away from
terrorism. We’re all raising our hands and praying for a generous state
in which Muslims act with dignity and leaders light a path out of all
this.”
The Sayyid Idris shrine was a carnival of colors,
scents and sounds as Shiites prepared for the ceremonies. Women filled
tents with incense and flowers, old men stirred huge vats of a seasonal
stew called qima, and teenage boys dressed in black struck themselves
with chains in a ritual expression of sorrow.
Such observances were banned under the Sunni Muslim dictatorship of
and many Shiites blame remnants of the former regime for the latest
attacks. In the courtyard of the shrine, marchers, who carried out the
rituals in secret under Saddam, vowed they would never again bow to
religious oppression — no matter how violent the efforts against them.
“They want to silence these ceremonies, but they’re all wrong, because their actions will only increase our will,” said
The shrine itself is a survivor of
recent political turmoil. Activities were restricted there under
Saddam, and rival Shiite parties have fought for control of it since
the U.S.-led invasion of 2003. The landmark sanctuary, with its
sky-blue tiles and sparkling cut glass, has been targeted by mortars,
gunfire and nearby bombings. Al-Zubeidi, the caretaker, said attendance
dropped from several thousand visitors a year to just a few hundred at
the peak of sectarian violence in 2006 and 2007.
Greater attendance this year reflected security
improvements, al-Zubeidi said, but he worries that the progress will be
undone by election-related violence. He watched with pride as workers
buzzed around him, sprucing up the shrine before Ashoura. Processions
of young men from the neighborhood will march to
“They challenge death,” al-Zubeidi said. “Those on
foot know there are car bombs. They know they could be killed, and yet
people are defying death and walking, and this is an indication of
their faith.”
One of the centerpieces of Ashoura is the
reenactment of Imam Hussein’s martyrdom in passion plays, with actors
in vivid tunics, chain-mail armor and cowboy boots standing in for
medieval footwear. As the story goes, Hussein and some of his followers
were lured to
by residents who then ambushed them. Outnumbered, Hussein fought to the
death in a battle that cemented the split between Sunnis and Shiites.
Centuries later, the themes of hardship, betrayal and murder resonate
with modern-day Iraqis.
audience as young men acted out the tragedy from long ago. But current
events were on her mind as fat teardrops ran down her face.
“This year is worse than last year. The explosions.
The senseless deaths,” Moussa said. “I pray that God keeps us and
disperses the dark clouds and heartache. May God save Iraqis and
preserve our nation.”
Via McClatchy-Tribune News Service.
