One of the most interesting and disturbing events that I witnessed in Iraq was the festival of Ashura. It commemorates the killing of Husayn ibn Ali (grandson of Muhammad). He and a group of his followers (approx. 100 men) fought with a large army of about 4,000 men outside the Iraqi city of Karbala. Husayn and all his men were killed and their bodies were mutilated. Shi'as believe that this represented a battle between the forces of good and evil. Many Shi'as celebrate this festival with bloodletting and self flagellation.
My guidance would be if you are deployed to Iraq do not plan any activities outside the wire on the Festival of Ashura. See the below links of pictures.
BBC
Another site with pictures
No comments:
Post a Comment