Section 1: Muharrum Q's 2-4 - Black clothes, Crying & Maatum

The next few questions deal with the mourning that takes place by the Shia across the globe when commemorating the martydom of Imam Hussain (as), grandson of the Holy Prophet. Reading on various forums and blogs, a lot of Sunni Muslims seem to have this rather simplistic view of Shias, we are those who wear black, cry all the time and hit ourselves. This post deals with those three features.

Q2: Why do Shias wear black clothes during Muharrum?

As already discussed, Shias commemorate the sacrifice, murder and martydom of Imam Hussain in Muharrum. In the tragedy of Karbala, he along with his close family and companions were brutally killed by the corrupt Muslim leader at the time, Yazid ibn Muawiya. Starting from the first of Muharrum to the 'Arbaeen' (40days after the sacrifice), Shias attend majlis (gatherings) to commemorate the events that took place.

We are mourning the cruel loss of the grandson of the Holy Prophet in outrageous circumstances. Is it not obvious why we would be wearing black clothes or crying with emotion? When you attend a funeral no-one would be wearing bright, loud clothes and laughing. The mood would be sombre, sad and everyone would be in black clothes. The same applies to Shias who are mourning the death of Imam Hussain (as).

Q3: Why do Shias cry so much during Muharrum?

Again, a rather simple answer - Shias are in mourning, crying is the natural response. People try to claim that somehow crying is wrong and un-Islamic but it has been encouraged by the Holy Prophet and is mentioned clearly in the Holy Quran.

"And when they listen to the revelation received by the Messenger, thou wilt see their eyes overflowing with tears, for they recognise the truth: they pray: "Our Lord! we believe; write us down among the witnesses." (Quran, Surah 5, Verse 83)

Surah Yusuf (no. 12) goes on to describe what happened to Prophet Yacub when he discovered that Prophet Yusuf had gone missing.

"And he turned away from them, and said: "How great is my grief for Joseph!" And his eyes became white with sorrow, and he fell into silent melancholy." (Quran, Surah 12, Verse 29)

Prophet Yacub cried so much his eyes went "white with sorrow." During the time of the Holy Prophet after the Battle of Uhud and the martydom of his uncle Hamzah, Tabari narrates in his book: "The Messenger of God passed by a settlement of the Ansar of the Banu Abdal al-Ashhal and Zafat and heard sounds of lamentation and women weeping. The Messenger of God’s eyes filled with tears and he wept, but then he said “Yet Hamzah has no women weeping for him”. When Saad bin Muadh and Usayd b. Hudayr came back to the settlement of the Banu Abdal al-Ashhal, they told the women to gird themselves up and go and weep for the Messenger of God’s uncle." (The History of the Prophets and Kings, Vol 7, pg 137) The Holy Prophet encouraged his followers to cry and mourn the loss of his uncle and yet we are not meant to cry when remembering the death of Imam Hussain (as).

This idea that it is somehow wrong to cry, to get emotional over such a loss is absurd. Hanafi scholar Sheikh Sulayman ibn Ibrahim Qandoozi sums it up best: "The grief of Imam Husayn (as) is the grief on which not only Humans, but even jinnat, Angels, animals, birds, the sky and trees, all lament. Thus it is written that the sky wept for forty days on (the martyrdom of) Imam Husayn (as)"

Q4: Why do Shias hit themselves (perform maatum) in Muharrum?

This is arguably the most controversial act performed by Shias during majlis, in Muharrum. The act of hitting oneself in sorrow is not wrong per se, but the extremes that some Shias take it to, the act of actual self-flagellation to the point of actual harm, brings a lot of attention and criticism.

When people refer to Shias hitting themselves, they often refer to Zanjeer maatum, the act of hitting oneself with chains and knives. It sounds gruesome and often can be. The majority of Shias will engage in the act of hitting their chest out of grief and tradition, but Zanjeer takes it forward to the next step. Like all things, there are extremes and I would say that Zanjeer is the extreme in this case and not something performed by the majority of Shias.

The actual act of hitting ourselves in grief can be a natural response, an outpouring of emotion when someone is upset. It was something instituted by the Holy Prophet and also performed by the likes of Aisha and Umar. It has also been mentioned in the Quran, when the wife of Prophet Abraham was told she would be blessed with a newborn despite her old age:

"So he conceived in his mind a fear on account of them. They said: Fear not. And they gave him the good news of a boy possessing knowledge. Then his wife came up in great grief, and she struck her face and said: An old barren woman!" (Quran, Surah 51, Verses 28-29)

Sunni books have also narrated at the time of the Holy Prophet's death, Aisha overcome with emotion and grief hit herself along with the rest of the Prophet's wives. "I got up beating my chest and slapping my face, along with other women." (Sirah Ibn Hisham, Volume 4 page 655). Umar, did something similar: "When Umar received news of the death of Numan ibn Muqran, he placed his hand on his head and wailed: 'O my grief for Numan!" (Aqd al Fareed, Volume 1 page 342). 

There is nothing wrong with expressing grief by crying and by hitting oneself, rather it is a natural response. Some take it to the extreme but focus on the actual act and you will see that it is something that has been carried out throughout history and will continue to do so.

That concludes this particular post with the answers to 3 common questions about Shias in Muharrum. As I keep stating, we are commemorating the horrendous killing of the grandson of the Holy Prophet. There is not other incident in the history of mankind that even compares to the great sacrifice of Imam Hussain (as) Inshallah I will return later with a few more answers in relation to Muharrum.