Thursday, March 31

Iraqi Christians join Shia to mourn Imam Hussein

The Iraq TV channels have been showing footage of hundreds of Iraqi Christians, dressed in white, participating in the mourning for Imam Hussein. Many people here in Kerbala have mentioned this in very positive terms. I've walked all over looking for them, but in a crowd of millions I've had no luck. Nor have I been able to find any mention of it in English language media - so you heard it first here. Here is a quote from Shiite scholar Mohammed Mohammed Ali a few weeks ago: "Who do you suppose cooked for Shiites during the recent Ashura celebrations in Kerbala? Christians... they do this every year."

Here are some of my photos, I'm having problems posting more using blogger in the terminally slow internet cafe here, so I've uploaded most of them to my fotopage - including pictures of the crowds, preparing food for the pilgrims, processions, self-flaggalation etc.


[left] Millions march from Baghdad, Najaf, Basra and other cities
[right] Drama of prisoners from the battle taken to Syria, in-front of Imam Abbas Shrine

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Justin, I've seen this kind of unnerving parade before. You don't have to go all the way to Iraq to see this. In Manchester when I lived there, I walked home from Uni one day to find the whole street full of Asian men, most of them in the middle beating themselves on the chest red raw. First couple of layers of skin were off. Some had leather whips which they used instead of their hands. So I understand how weird it looks to us Westerners. God bless. Tom

Anonymous said...

Imam hussain is the name who we cry for, imam hussain is the one who we weep for, imam hussain is the one who sacrificed his life for peace and humanity, he's the image from the past that hunts evil by its face and fills the hearts of many people with love and joy as we cry in need of help, their is always a sign from ya hassan ya hussain, and our imam menhdi when whever were in trouble

syed ajib hussain shah bukhari