Description
Ali J. Hussain S hi‘i commemorations exemplify a peculiar phenomenon among world religions: in
Shi‘i Islam, one of the most important annual religious holidays is not a joyful celebra-
tion but a day of intense sorrow. During the holiest days of the year for a Shi‘i Muslim,
mourning rituals are used to commemorate the murder of the Prophet Muhammad’s grand-
son and his companions. Substantial research on these holy days has been published, but most
of it focuses mainly on later developments in the evolution of the rituals,
1 their central role inShi‘i communal identity,
2 and the expressions of them in various communities in South Asia.
3In the following article I examine the evolution of these mourning rituals developmentally,
focusing primarily on the earliest periods in Islamic history and on the central Islamic lands in
the vicinity of what is modern Iraq. I use classical Islamic literary sources to trace the historical
origins of these mourning rituals, discover why they became so integral to the Shi‘i commu-
nity’s belief system at such an early stage, and understand how these early developments set
the stage for later transformations.
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