Hazrat Abbas Alamdar

Hazrat Abbas was the son of Hazrat Ali ibne Abi Talib. His mother's name was Fatima Binte Hazam bin Khalid Ibn-e-Rabi'e Ibn-e-Amer Kalbi. She was also known as 'Ummul Baneen'. She belonged to the clan of Banu Kilah, which was one the noblest families amongst the Hashimites and famous for the bravery and valour of its warriors. Some years after the martyrdom of Fatema Zehra (S.A.), Imam Ali (A.S.)...

Sham-e-Ghariban

10th of Muharram, Sham-e-Ghariban or literraly the evening of desolation is observed. The grandon of the Prophet Muhammed and his small but brave band of 72 followers fought a much larger (20,000-30,000) army of the tyrant Yazid. Water was denied to Imam Hussain's caravan which included small children and women on the 7th of Muharram on the orders of Yazid even though they were camped on the...

Zuljana Shab-e-Ashoura

Today was the 9th of Muharram (9th and 10 being National Holidays) the eve before Imam Hussain's Martrydom. Tonight processions known here as Jalous could be seen all over the city with thousands of devotees taking part in them. This Particular picture shows a decorated horse. It is known as the "Zuljana" and is part of almost every procession that takes to the street tonight or tomorrow afternoon....

Soaz

Soaz or soz (Persian / Urdu: سوز) is an elegiac poem written to commemorate the martyrdom and valour of Hazrat Imam Hussain and his comrades of the Karbala. In its form the soaz, salam and marsia, with a rhyming quatrain, and a couplet on a different rhyme. This form found a specially congenial soil in Lucknow (a city in Northern India), chiefly because it was the centre of Shia Muslim community, which regarded it an act of piety and religious duty to eulogise and bemoan the martyrs of the...

Marsia

Marsiya (Marsia) (Persian: مرثیہ) is an elegiac poem written to commemorate the martyrdom and valour of Hussain and his comrades of the Karbala. In its form the marsia generally consists of six-line units, with a rhyming quatrain, and a couplet on a different rhyme. This form found a specially congenial soil in Lucknow (a city in Northern India), chiefly because it was the centre of Shia Muslim community, which regarded it an act of piety and religious duty to eulogies and bemoan the martyrs...

Noha

Noha (Arabic: نوحہ‎) is a genre of Arabic, Persian, or Urdu prose depicting the martyrdom of the 12 Holy Imams. Strictly speaking noha is the sub-parts of Marsia. Nohas are usually poetry expressing the sorrow felt by Shia Muslims for their leade...

Taziya

One form of mourning is the theatrical re-enactment of the Battle of Karbala. In Iran this is called taziya or taziyeh. Theatrical groups that specialize in taziya are called taziya groups.[3] Taziyas were popular through the Qajar dynasty up into the early twentieth century, but the reinactments slowly declined until they were mostly abandoned in the large cities by the early 1940s. Nonetheless,...