The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought

‘Ashura’

‘Ashura’ refers to the tenth day of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, when Husayn b. ‘Ali, the third Shi‘i imam and the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, was martyred at Karbala, Iraq, in 680. Husayn was on his way from Medina to Kufa, the former capital of ‘Ali’s caliphate, where local supporters had invited him to lead them as their imam. ‘Ubaydallah b. Ziyad, the Umayyad governor of Kufa, feared a rebellion and sent troops to stop Husayn’s caravan at Karbala before it reached Kufa. He ordered his commanders to make clear to Husayn that he had no choice other than to pledge allegiance to Yazid, the second Umayyad caliph (r. 680–83). Though his party was prevented from reaching water in the Karbala desert and his followers were so few in comparison with the Umayyad troops, Husayn rejected submission to the Umayyad caliph, whom he viewed as a usurper caliph and, consequently, an illegitimate ruler. After some days, on ‘Ashura’, 72 males (from Husayn’s 6-month-old baby to a 75-year-old man) were killed by Umayyad troops. The women and children were taken as prisoners to Yazid’s palace in Damascus, the capital of the Umayyad caliphate, where Zaynab, Husayn’s sister, confronted and shamed Yazid in a memorable speech. She is therefore known as the messenger of ‘Ashura’.

Shi‘i devotees throughout the world mourn on ‘Ashura’ to commemorate and lament the martyrdom of Husayn and his companions at Karbala. The ceremonies, which often begin on the first day of Muharram, culminate on the 10th day, and continue until the 12th day, involve (with some differences from place to place) dramatic processions in which the participants chant “O Husayn!” and other slogans; beat their breasts; strike their backs with chains; carry massive devotional displays; perform other gestures associated with mourning, such as strewing the head or face with dust or mud; and stage elaborate passion plays, or reenactments of the events leading up to the martyrdom and the Battle of Karbala itself. The open, organized commemoration of ‘Ashura’ began under Mu‘izz al-Dawla in Baghdad in 964, after the Shi‘i Buyids had established dominance in Iraq (945–1055). Not long after, ‘Ashura’ rituals became popular in Cairo under the Fatimids (969–1171), and they have been popular ever since in areas where Shi‘is form a significant part of the population. In some environments where the community includes large Sunni and Shi‘i groups, ‘Ashura’ has often been a time when sectarian violence can flare up, leading to fights and riots. Buyid Baghdad, for example, witnessed scores of such riots on ‘Ashura’, some of which resulted in fires that burned large quarters of the city, and similar outbreaks of violence have taken place in modern Iraq and Pakistan. Some Sunni groups in some areas of the world, such as Syria and Egypt, have developed traditions of celebrating on ‘Ashura’ that include eating particular delicacies as a way to advertise Sunni identity and spite the Shi‘is, whereas other Sunnis in other parts of the world, such as in Afghanistan, retain traditions of fasting, reading the Qur’an, or visiting cemeteries on ‘Ashura’.

Husayn’s martyrdom has retained a strong symbolic significance in Islamic history, especially for Shi‘is, who have used it as a marker for their distinct identity within the Islamic world and as ideological grounds for their religiopolitical movements. The commemoration of ‘Ashura’ stresses the iniquity of tyrannical rule and Shi‘i existence as an oppressed minority. In addition, it stresses the failure of Husayn’s supporters from Kufa—the Shi‘is—to come to his aid. Very soon after the Battle of Karbala, rebellions and resistance against the Umayyad caliphate emerged that adopted the memory of Karbala as a rallying cry, including the rebellion of the Penitents (Tawwābūn), led by Sulayman b. Surad al-Khuza’i in 684; the rebellion of Mukhtar al-Thaqafi in 685; and many other revolts in the name of descendants of ‘Ali. ‘Ashura’ has therefore often lent itself to a contemporary political interpretation, supporting a potential uprising against any political system that is viewed as unjust.