Blood Flows in Commemoration of Imam Hussayn
By Kim Ghattas NABATIYYEH, Lebanon, Apr 4 (IPS) - Dressed in black, with white cloths around their shoulders, thousands of the faithful jogged around the main square of the southern Lebanese town of Nabatiyyeh Wednesday, slapping their chests rhythmically and chanting 'Haidar, Haidar'.
Most of them had slashed their foreheads with blades and were beating the wound to make the blood splash about.
The rather gruesome spectacle takes place every year as Muslim Shiites commemorate Ashoura, which in Arabic stands for the tenth day of the month of Moharram, according to the Islamic calendar.
On that day in 680 AD, Hussayn, the grandson of the prophet Mohammed, was killed in Kerbala in what is today Iraq, after he rebelled against the established Sunni Muslim authority. This is where Shiites acquired their tradition for martyrdom and resistance. It was also then that the schism in Islam occurred between Sunnis and Shiites.
"Ashoura represents this everlasting revolution of the oppressed and the doomed against the oppressors, against the injustices of the world," says Ibrahim Moussawi, a Shiite academic.
Today Shiites repent for not having been able to save Hussayn more than 1,000 years ago and their commemoration is sometimes compared to the crucifixions that take place on Good Friday in some Christian communities, such as in the Philippines.
The tradition of cutting one's forehead and letting the blood flow is said to be a re-enactment of what Hussayn's sister, Zeinab, did on hearing the news of her brother's death. She is said to have beat her head against a door and called out in despair for her father, Haidar.
But today, not everybody agrees that the bloodletting during Ashoura is a good idea.
"I believe this has nothing to do with religious teachings, it's just a tradition that has been followed around the world," said Moussawi.
"Many clerics have issued fatwas saying this is 'haram', that it's not allowed by religion. If you want to show how dedicated you are to Imam Hussayn and you want to sacrifice your blood, then donate it to blood banks," he added.
Both Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, and Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, secretary-general of the Islamic organisation Hizbollah, have declared they are against the bloodletting. For the past three years, Hizbollah has been trying to encourage participants to adopt blood donation as part of the commemoration and the organisation sets up tents for blood donations near the main square.
In 1999, only 200 donors turned up, but as the awareness about the possible health hazards involved in the unrestricted bloodletting increases, so does the number of donors. This year there were more than 600.
"We worry about the spread of infectious diseases, like hepatitis and AIDS, as participants are very close to each other and often use the same blade to cut their heads," said Dr Ahmed Kahil, from the Nabattiyeh al Janoub hospital, which is run by Hizbollah.
He says there are around 35 cases a year of infections, mainly hepatitis and inflammations.
"Also, we believe that it gives a very backward image of Islam and we have to move away from that," he added.
But traditions die hard here. Different Shiite communities follow different religious teachers and not all of them have banned self- flagellation. Young men often grow up in households where it has been practised for decades and they continue the tradition starting from a young age. As they grow up they sometimes succumb to peer pressure or do it just for show.
Next to the two tents for blood donations at Wednesday's Ashoura commemorations, there were at least another 15 tents manned by paramedics where dozens of fainting young men were brought in for care.
The more pleasant aspect of the commemoration is the two-hour long play that re-enacts the battle of Kerbala. Hundreds of people gather around the football stadium where the play is held and those who cannot get close enough often stand on balconies of nearby buildings. Actors on horses and camels first parade through the town in a procession, before taking their places in the stadium to re-enact the battle.
Hani Hammoud, a young bank employee who lives in Beirut, comes to Nabatiyyeh every year to watch the play, but does not take part in the bloody commemoration.
"I don't feel I need to do this to remember Imam Hussayn. I can do it by following his teachings and values and refusing oppression," he says.
As he speaks, the fervour of the participants in the self- flagellation ceremony intensifies, and so does their chanting. The play is nearing the climax when Hussayn gets killed and as it comes to an end the lamenting reaches fever pitch.
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