Day of Ashoura marked in Karbala
- 12 years ago
Muslims around the world have been marking the day of Ashoura - the tenth day of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, by all Muslims.
The Prophet Muhammad used to fast on Ashoura in Mecca, where it became a common tradition for the early Muslims.
Sunni Muslims commemorate the day through voluntary fasting but for the Shia it is also a major religious occasion to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, who died at the Battle of Karbala in AD 680.
Every year since then, thousands of Shia performing a pilgrimage to the Imam's mausoleum in Iraq.
Al Jazeera's Jane Arraf reports from Karabala.
The Prophet Muhammad used to fast on Ashoura in Mecca, where it became a common tradition for the early Muslims.
Sunni Muslims commemorate the day through voluntary fasting but for the Shia it is also a major religious occasion to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, who died at the Battle of Karbala in AD 680.
Every year since then, thousands of Shia performing a pilgrimage to the Imam's mausoleum in Iraq.
Al Jazeera's Jane Arraf reports from Karabala.