Once a year, in Noosh Abad, a city in central Iran, men don warrior costumes and children dress up as demons, to kick off celebrations of Ashura, the most important Shia Muslim holiday.
Every year, around the tenth day of the Muslim month of Moharram, Shiites, the majority in Iran, celebrate the mourning of Achoura which marks the anniversary of the martyrdom of Hussein, the third imam of Shiite Islam.
In Noosh Abad, the Iranian faithful parade through the streets two days before the feast, during a parade called “Caravan”.
On Wednesday, the participants carried on the tradition that has animated their city for more than a century, by wearing colorful embroidered costumes, reminiscent of the Arab clothes worn at the time of Imam Hussein.
Grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, Hussein was killed in 680 by the troops of the Umayyad Caliph Yazid during a battle in the desert of Karbala, Iraq.
Some represented horsemen, daggers and swords at the waist, while children with faces painted black or red played the little devils. Others were dressed in white or wore pink wings.
According to legend, these little devils witnessed the battle of Karbala and offered their help to Hussein, who refused saying that his fate was to die on the battlefield.
Hundreds of men dressed in black and women wearing chadors attended the parade on Wednesday amid black flags and banners praising Hussein and his family.
Extras then re-enacted the events leading up to the assassination of Hussein, who rejected Caliph Yazid’s right to rule the Islamic world.
Shia Muslims around the world regard Hussein’s death as a symbol of the fight against injustice.
The celebrations of the anniversary of his death can result in spectacular scenes of men beating themselves, lacerating their skulls, beating their chests or rolling in the mud.
“I have been participating in this event for ten years,” said Ali Ebadi, 56, who played the role of a slave of “Shimr”, the man who killed Hussein during the fight in Karbala.
Many people “believe that prophets, angels and demons came to help Imam Hussein”, who refused their help saying “it was his destiny”, said Mohammad Mashhadi Nushabadi, 52, who attended at the parade.
The ceremony is part of the rituals of Taazieh, or mourning, whose roots date back to ancient Persia, Nushabadi said.
“Generations learn from these rituals and performances which are an important part of Islamic history,” said Mahdi Moslem, professor of Islamic philosophy at Kashan University.
27/07/2023 17:51:51 – Noosh Century (Iran) (AFP) – © 2023 AFP