Description
Book SynopsisExploring the social, political, cultural, artistic, and religious significance of Muharram rituals for millions of global observers. Over the centuries, observances of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, have traveled far from their origins at Karbalaa windswept desert plain that is now a town in present-day Iraqwhere, according to tradition, Hussein, the beloved grandson of Prophet Muhammad, was brutally put to death together with seventy-two of his male companions on the tenth day of the month. For this reason, Muharram is synonymous with both the first month and the tenth day. Hussein's passion and death are considered the ultimate example of sacrifice for Shia Muslims and scores of rituals devoted to Muharram have developed during the last thirteen centuries, especially in Iran where Twelver Shi'ism became the state religion in the sixteenth century. As the essays describe in Eternal Performance, many of these rituals were exported to other lands over time.
