Baghdad neighborhood revives Ashura ritual

Shafaq News- Baghdad

Crowds gathered in Baghdad’s Al-Kifah district on Ashura night, carrying torches and swords as black mourning banners, chants, and fire-lit processions marked one of Iraq’s most important Shia commemorations.

Ashura marks the killing of Imam Hussein bin Ali, the third Shia Imam and grandson of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, at the Battle of Karbala in 680 CE. For Shia Muslims, the day carries a wider message of sacrifice, dignity, and standing for truth against unjust power.

Shafaq News footage showed residents of Al-Kifah reviving an annual neighborhood ritual on the eve of the 10th of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, with large crowds filling the area as participants moved through the streets with flames and ceremonial swords.

Tourism and Antiquities Ministry spokesperson Hatem Al-Azzawi told Shafaq News that Ashura draws about five to six million visitors in Iraq, mostly concentrated in Karbala, where mourners gather around the shrines of Imam Hussein and his brother Al-Abbas.

Across Iraq, Ashura is also marked by mawkibs*, volunteer service stations that provide food, water, rest areas, and medical help to mourners and pilgrims. The rituals range from neighborhood processions and latmiya, rhythmic mourning chants, to ziyarah, pilgrimage visits to holy shrines.

* A mawkib is a volunteer service station that provides food and support during religious commemorations.