Muharram and the Ashura Tradition in Iran - Religion or Protest? Summer 2023
A Religious Ritual in Iran Becomes a New Form of Protest.
Abstract: Ashura, which mourns the killing of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson and celebrates Shiite identity, has long symbolized the fight against oppression. This year, its chants have been turned against the government.
The large crowd of men congregated at the center of a mosque in the central city of Yazd, clad in black and beating their chests rhythmically in unison. They were commemorating Ashura, Shiite Islam’s most sacred ritual, showcased annually with great fanfare in Iran as a testament to the Shiite theocracy’s power and strength.
But this year Ashura looked different. The mourners who gathered in Yazd last month and in many other cities across Iran diverged unexpectedly from the script to target the clerical rulers of Iran, turning religious ballads into protest songs about the suffering of Iranians.
“For a city in ruins, for all of us held hostage, for the grieving mothers, for the tears of the marginalized,” the men sang “We are mourning thousands of innocent lives, we are ashamed of this raging fire. Oh rain, oh storm…
Ashura Iran
Iran is a country with a diversity of ethnic groups and their unique traditions, but one of the things that most Iranians have in common is their religion. Iranians are mostly Muslim; but even in this common aspect, they are so different. To understand these differences, we are going to explore an event that happens nationwide on the first ten days of the month of Muharram, especially Ashura, and how different it is held in different parts of the country at the same time. However, to understand that, we first have to know what Ashura is and why it’s important.
Ashura is the tenth day of Muharram (the first and one of the sacred months of the traditional Islamic lunar calendar) in which Hussayn Ibn Ali and his followers got martyred by Yazid’s army in the battle of Karbala. The day of Ashura will be on the evening of the ninth of September and end on the evening of September tenth, 2019. Shia Muslims believe that the death of Hussayn and his family in Ashura shows people the value of standing for what you think is right. In the battle of Karbala, Yazid’s armies surrounded Imam Hussayn and his family for days, stopping the flow of water near their camp. They could not even get fresh water and had to survive with all they had for several days, but they stood against injustice and showed the value of truth. It is significant for Shia Muslims to cherish Muharram, especially this day and practice having more spirituality and morality in life.
What are Ashura’s Traditions?
On this day, Muslims of Iran mourn the death of Imam Hussayn with singing Noha, which is a type of laments and chest-beating to show their grief. Distributing food, especially the most known food for mourning ceremonies called Khoresht-e Gheymeh, or the beef and split peas stew is a common tradition. Also, in every part of Iran, people perform a type of ancient Persian opera or play called Ta’zieh, which is translated to condolence theater. This play is a way to express their grief by dressing up as the main characters of the battle of Karbala in order to show the events of Ashura to people.
People of the south are full of emotion. In Bushehr, people show their grieving by playing cymbal and their traditional musical instrument called Dammam, which is a type of drum. Seven Dammams must be played. There are four regular size Dammams, two big ones and a small one to create a sorrowful piece of music. Living near the Persian Gulf got people inspired by the sea, so they created a unique way of mourning. People of Bushehr form multiple circles and mourn for Imam Hussein by chest-beating. Someone who sings the Noha or laments stands in the center of the rings to lead the others just like a shipmaster.
During Muharram and especially in Ashura, people of Bushehr cook traditional foods such as Gheymeh Boushehri and distribute it among people. This stew is different from other kinds of Gheymeh. For making it, people overcook all the ingredients which are split peas, meat, potatoes, fried onion, and tomato sauce to be mashed. Then they garnish it with fries and serve it with Shirin Polo, otherwise known as sweet rice.
Lorestan is located in western Iran and has a rich culture. To show their grieving, people of Khorramabad, which is the capital of Lorestan province, prepare big basins of clay with rose water and put them in the main squares of the city. Mourning people go there and cover their bodies with the mud. Pouring dust on the head is the symbol of grieving in Iran and mostly among people of Lorestan. Also, they sing a traditional lament called Chamari or Chamarouneh, which is a very gloomy song in their dialect and light candles for Imam Hussayn.
To bring light to this sorrowful night, people of Shishvan village in East Azarbaijan light hundreds of giant torches called ‘Pulkeh’ and spin them in the air. This firework, along with Turkish laments, creates a fascinating and mournful scene. In other parts of this province, people burn tents as a symbol of the burning tents in the battle of Karbala and welcoming mourners with hot or cold beverages depending on the weather, along with small snacks such as bread and cheese.
Mourning for Imam Hussayn in Ardabil is very symbolic. Elderlies of Ardabil put multiple metal basins in mosques and fill them with water from waterskins to depict one of the most tragic scenes of the battle of Karbala. In this part of the battle, Imam Hussayn ordered his people to pour the water that was left for his family into basins for everyone to drink even though he was thirsty. Then, the elderlies carry these basins and let people drink from them; People believe that this water is sacred and can heal diseases.
People of Ardabil make their own special Gheymeh stew with split peas, beef, lots of fried onion and slivered almonds. To make it, they cook beef very well with fried onion; then they add split peas to it. Finally, add slivered almonds and distribute it among people.
People of Mashhad, hold a glamorous ceremony, by gathering in Imam Reza’s holy shrine and light thousands of candles. Mourners sing Noha while holding candles in their hands and show their grieving. They also, make Sholeh Mashhadi or Mashhadi pudding on this day. For making it, people need to cook the ingredients from the day before. They use beef, onions, bulgur wheat, beans, peas, and spices such as ginger and cardamom. They combine and cook everything for hours to have a delicious pudding.
One of the most well-known ceremonies of Ashura is Nakhl Gardani in Yazd. Nakhl Gardani means carrying a palm tree, but people do not use the tree. They use a huge wooden structure to symbolize Imam Hussayn’s coffin because they believe his followers carried his body on a coffin made of palm tree branches. People decorate this structure with fabrics, hanging swords, and mirrors. Men lift the Nakhl in Amir Chakhmaq square of Yazd and others can donate different things such as rice or money by putting them in the Nakhl. This massive structure needs hundreds of men to support it. People from all parts of Iran and even the
Although every Muslim mourns for Imam Hussayn, In Zanjan this mourning is totally different. People of Zanjan do not do chest-beating, which is the most common form of grieving in Muharram; they only gather and walk to Ibrahim shrine in their city while whispering traditional Noha. They sacrifice many cattle for Imam Hussayn to show their respect. After the great sacrificing ritual in Mecca, Zanjan would be the second place in which people sacrifice animals because of their faith. People of Zanjan use this meat to help the poor and make food for everyone.
The events of Ashura and Imam Hussayn’s characteristic has not only affected Muslims of Iran but also many people around the world. Even Mahatma Gandhi honored Hussayn ibn Ali and said, “I learnt from Hussain how to achieve victory while being oppressed.”
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NEW YORK, NY.- The large crowd of men congregated at the center of a mosque in the central city of Yazd, Iran, clad in black and beating their chests rhythmically in unison. They were commemorating Ashura, Shiite Islam’s most sacred ritual, showcased annually with great fanfare in Iran as a testament to the Shiite theocracy’s power and strength.
But this year Ashura looked different. The mourners who gathered in Yazd last month and in many other cities across Iran diverged unexpectedly from the script to target the clerical rulers of Iran, turning religious ballads into protest songs about the suffering of Iranians.
“For a city in ruins, for all of us held hostage, for the grieving mothers, for the tears of the marginalized,” the men sang, according to videos. “We are mourning thousands of innocent lives, we are ashamed of this raging fire. Oh rain, oh storm, come. They have set fire to our tent.”
In Kermanshah, a Kurdish city in western Iran, a religious vocalist known as a maddah stood on the street, microphone in hand, singing about officials “stealing and devouring” resources away from desolate people.
And in Dezful, a small conservative city in the southwest, a similar vocalist delivered a scathing sermon against the government as the crowd marched in a ritual procession.
“Oh, my country, do you know why I’m grieving? Their only concern is hijab. They don’t see the blood, the poverty. They are stealing the public’s money,” serenaded the vocalist, Ibrahim Nassrollahi. “Fathers are ashamed, mothers are suffering. I wish they would see our poverty.”
Instead of the traditional chant that describes an ancient tale of grief, the crowd shouted back: “Iran, Iran, Iran!”
It was a surprising tone for the period of religious mourning known as Muharram, which lasts for a little over a month in Iran. This year it will end Sept. 6, with another big public ritual called Arbaeen that is expected to also become a platform for protest.
Ashura, which marks the 10th day of the mourning period, grieves for Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, who was beheaded in the year 680 in the battle of Karbala. Hussein led an uprising against the succession of Islam’s new caliph, Yazid, on the basis that his rule was corrupt and unjust, and in Karbala his small force was confronted by Yazid’s massive army and slaughtered.
For centuries Ashura has been more than just a religious ritual. From Iran to Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and beyond, it has served as a celebration of Shiite Muslim identity. Even some secular people participate in its stylized rituals, ranging from street processions, to theatrical reenactments and food handouts organized by neighborhood committees.
Social and political movements in the Muslim world have long been fueled and inspired by the narrative of Ashura, of the oppressed rising up against an oppressor. In Iran during the 1979 revolution that toppled the monarchy, a huge protest on Ashura became a turning point against the shah. During the country’s Green Movement in 2009, protesters, mostly young and upper middle class, took to the streets on Ashura to contest presidential election results.
Under Saddam Hussein’s rule, Iraqi Shiites were banned from publicly commemorating their mourning holidays. The Taliban government in Afghanistan recently announced a similar ban.
In previous years, maddahs in Iran occasionally delivered sermons with mild and indirect criticism of the government. This year, some of the ceremonies were the traditional grand spectacles and religious processions.
But the widespread and remarkable politicization of Ashura directly targeting the leaders of the Islamic Republic rattled the authorities, who warned that the protest tone was “making our enemies happy.” There were reports on social media of the brief detention of some of the leading vocalists and demands from the government that they tone down their rhetoric.
“The enemy had unpleasant dreams for Muharram this year,” Mohammad Mehdi Esmaili, Iran’s minister of Islamic guidance and culture, said last Monday. “They wanted to turn Muharram into the latest battlefield, but our people did not listen at all.”
But analysts said that instead of issuing fanciful denials, the government must reckon with the stark reality that opposition to it has now spread to some devoutly religious Iranians, who were once considered a loyal power base. The rebellion on display presents yet another challenge to the legitimacy of a theocracy that views itself as the global spiritual leader of Shiite Muslims.
Mohamad Ali Ahangaran, a conservative analyst of religion and the son of a prominent maddah who performs at government events, said in an interview from Tehran, Iran, that many Iranians were using every opportunity, including Ashura, to voice their opposition to the status quo.
“This year we saw the religious sermons and songs become more protest-driven than previous years, targeting the way the leaders are governing Iran, the widespread corruption in the Islamic Republic, the political obstacles we face,” said Ahangaran.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has repeatedly encouraged Muharram ceremonies to be more political and take sides, but he never envisioned that in doing so it would one day turn “against the entire leadership” of Iran, including himself, said Ahangaran.
Nearly a year ago, Iranians took to the streets in nationwide protests demanding an end to the clerical government. The uprising was set off by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police, who had detained her on allegations of violating the mandatory hijab law. The government responded with violence, killing more than 500 people, including children, arresting tens of thousands and executing seven protesters.
“We saw the story of Ashura unfold in the streets with our own eyes as they slaughtered our youth last year,” said Maryam, a 55-year-old mother of two in Tehran who asked that her last name not be used, fearing retribution. “As a religious person, I want to completely separate myself from any ceremony connected to the regime.”
Maryam said her mother hosted a mourning ceremony at home this month for nearly 200 guests. She adorned the salon with black Ashura flags with Imam Hussein’s name and placed a picture of a killed protester next to each flag. “They are our new martyrs,” she said.
The 33-year-old son of a senior cleric in the religious city of Qom said that he was boycotting the Muharram ceremonies because of his opposition to the government and its violence. His relatives, he said, searched for ceremonies that either were not political or took on the regime. He also requested anonymity, fearing for his safety.
Some Iranians wore white, in defiance of the customary black attire, and trekked to cemeteries to pay homage to killed protesters. In the northern city of Amol, a religious marching band dressed in white went to the home of Ghazalleh Chelavi, a 33-year-old female athlete shot in the head during protests last September, videos showed. Her mother wailed by the door.
In Yazd, the maddah led the crowd in singing a famous poem that honors protesters killed by governments: “From the blood of our country’s youth, tulips grow.”
Then, comparing authorities in power to wheels, they continued, “Oh, wheel, how you have derailed, how you misbehave, how you take revenge. Oh, wheel, you have no religion and no principles.”
Amini’s mother posted a video on Instagram of her daughter’s grave illuminated by candlelight at night on Ashura. A woman’s voice could be heard singing the same poem.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times. https://artdaily.cc/news/161260/A-religious-ritual-in-Iran-becomes-a-new-form-of-protest
