Source: The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/08/world/middleeast/08iraq.html?ref=middleeast
Millions of Iraqi Shiites celebrated one of the most emotional occasions in their religious calendar Wednesday, accompanied by stringent security measures that included a ban on women entering the area around one of Baghdad’s holiest shrines for fear of suicide bombings.
They also heard a call from the anti-American Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr, who is believed to be in Iran, for insurgents in Iraq to carry out attacks against Americans in revenge for Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
Ashura, the 10th day of the Muslim month of Muharram, marks the death of Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Imam Hussein and his rebellious companions in the year 680 in battle in Karbala against the army of the caliph, Yazid. Imam Hussein’s death, which embodies the schism between the Sunni and Shiite sects of Islam, continues to this day to play a central role in shaping Shiite identity.
The largest Ashura gathering took place in the city of Karbala, south of Baghdad, where Imam Hussein is entombed within a magnificent golden-domed shrine. On Wednesday, hundreds of thousands of men and women thronged the area around the shrine, beating their chests and foreheads in mourning. Some men and boys expressed even greater fervor in more extreme rituals, beating themselves with chains and cutting their scalps and letting the blood flow.
In one of the most spectacular rituals, the Twarij run, thousands dashed two miles to the shrine from an area outside the city center, to symbolize their rush to heed Imam Hussein’s last cries for help in battle.
Shiite religious festivals and shrines in Iraq have been the targets of some of the bloodiest attacks of the war. To ward off attacks in Karbala, 28,000 Iraqi soldiers and policemen have been on high alert for days, according to Maj. Gen. Othman al-Ghanemi, who commands operations there. Vehicle traffic was banned for miles from the shrine, and those approaching on foot were subjected to eight separate security checks.