ASHURA DAY

There Is No Other Day Like Yours O’Hussain

Shia Muslims have been commemorating Ashura in Greece since 1978.  There are some 6,000 people registered in the various Shia societies in Athens and other places across Greece (Crete, Lavrio, Thebes and Patra) but members of the community estimate the actual number could be as high as 10,000.

Ashoura is marked on the 10th day of Muharram – the first month of the Islamic calendar – by all Muslims.

For Shia Muslims, it a major religious festival marking the peak of 10 days of mourning for the slaying of Imam al-Hussein – grandson of Prophet Muhammad – at the Battle of Karbala in AD 680.

Each year, believers across the Shia world commemorate his martyrdom primarily with public expressions of mourning, including self-flagellation.

The rituals are meant to exemplify the suffering experienced by Imam al-Hussein before his decapitation.

Sunni Muslims observe the day through voluntary fasting.