Muharram in Iran:
Iran places high importance on keeping the tradition of Ashura alive, given its pivotal role in inspiring the state's ideology. As such, Ashura, its ethos, and its rituals have been monopolized by the state, leaving a poignant but incomplete impression of Shia Islam both inside Iran and around the world.
Some are supported and promoted, others are officially ignored or downplayed, while some Ashura rituals are banned.
According to the Shia narrative, despite being outnumbered by enemy forces, the Prophet's grandson, Hussein, fought an epic battle in 680 AD on the day of Ashura, knowing that he and his followers would be killed so that future generations could draw lessons from their sacrifice.
The Iranian government's narrative of Ashura has been self-serving, centered around the concepts of resistance and martyrdom - President Rouhani may have stretched it too far by declaring last week "The lesson of Ashura is one of the negotiations and logical reasoning".
Self-flagellation in Iran:
Historically, the clerical establishment had no qualms with Ashura rituals that involved self-flagellation.
Devout Shia across the world continue to follow these violent practices that require blood to be spilled from scratches or cracks on the skin as a sign of readiness to shed blood for Hussein.
However, once the practice came under scrutiny and was used by secular people to highlight an underlying fanaticism of state ideology, ruling clerics began to disavow it. Iran's Supreme Leader issued a fatwa against Ghamezani - worshippers cutting their heads open with razor-sharp instruments.
Reported clashes between Iranian police and security forces in communities where self-flagellation takes place during Ashura eventually ended Ghamezani.
The justification for the crackdown was that such practices defame Shia Islam and also project a negative image of Shia to outsiders and non-believers.
The same rationale has been applied to other customs that clerics themselves practiced and promoted before but distanced themselves from once they gained power.
For example, the tradition of telling stories and tear-jerking tales about Ashura's events always provided ample pretext for ridicule and derision by non-believers as many of these stories were made up by the speakers who earned credits for how well they could make their audiences cry and wail to accounts of Hussein's death.
Once again Iran's Supreme Leader stepped in declaring that all such stories need to have been substantiated by scholars.
Establishment clerics also fell out with their colleagues over the descriptive language used in many of these recitations.
Traditionally, self-deprecation has been the order of the day in such story-telling, with many mullahs likening their followers to dogs loyal to Hussein. They also use inappropriate language to describe the physical beauty of Hussein and his followers.
Many devout Shia still hang imaginary photos and paintings of an aesthetically pleasing Hussein on the walls of their homes and shops. The state has yet to win this battle.
Details:
The images of people self – flagellating with blades and knives have earned the curiosity of many and some including Muslims have questioned the basis of mourning by self-flagellation. The questions bear significance in the self-flagellating to bleed and making rounds on the internet. In many ways, mourning by self-flagellation lacks basis and historical evidence. Why so? We will look into a few of the important reasons
1.) Fatwa by the supreme leader of Iran – The Shia majority of Iran and many Shiite clerics have denounced self-flagellation as un-Islamic and have issued a fatwa banning self-flagellation. The fatwa has led to many Muslims denouncing self-flagellation and have instead organized blood donation camps.
2.) It's more Asian now – Mourning for Husayn Ibn Ali is believed to have started immediately after the Battle of Karbala however mourning of self – flagellation is widely believed to have started around 15th century. With many Shiite clerics denouncing the act of self-flagellation, the act of self-flagellation is more of an Asian phenomenon now particularly in India & Bangladesh.
3.) Has no Sanctions in the Quran –“Do not cast yourselves, with your own hands, into destruction” – Quran 2-195. The following verse from the Quran is widely cited among scholars as a basis to denounce the act of self-flagellation and rightly so.
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