31 Powerful Scenes Of Ashura Commemorations Around The World

Shiite pilgrims run between the Imam Hussein and Imam Abbas shrines as part of a ritual of the Ashura ceremony in Karbala, the historical site of Hussein's death.

Shiite men take part in a procession in honor of Ashura, commemorated on the tenth day of the Islamic calendar's month of Muharram.

Lebanese Hezbollah supporters gesture as they march during a religious procession to mark Ashura in Beirut's suburbs, a stronghold of the Shiite militant group.

Turkish Shiite men beat their chests as they mourn during an Ashura procession.

Local actors dressed as ancient warriors re-enact a scene from the battle of Karbala. Shiite Muslims consider Hussein to be the Prophet Muhammad’s true heir; Hussein’s death was a major cause for the historical schism between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.

Afghan men flagellate themselves to ritually punish their bodies.

Shiite pilgrims beat themselves with iron chains.

Lebanese Red Cross personnel stand watch as Lebanese supporters of the Shiite Amal movement men beat their foreheads, another Ashura tradition.

Shiite Muslims use knives and whips, in another display of self-flagellation.

A Shiite Muslim woman bleeds as she taps her forehead with a sword in Nabatieh town, southern Lebanon.

A Shiite Muslim walks across hot coals at a mosque in central Yangon.

A man with mud on his face cries in commemoration of the religious festival.

Turkish Shiite women publicly mourn as an Ashura procession passes.

A girl wearing a headscarf that reads 'Hussein' watches a Muharram procession in Beirut.

Residents watch a re-enactment of the 7th century battle of Karbala.

Turkish Shiite girls watch a re-enactment of the battle of Karbala being broadcasted on a huge screen in Istanbul.

Women look at art pieces during an art exhibition set up by locals artists as part of events related to the holiday.

Shiiite Muslims wait outside of a mosque during a ceremony in central Yangon.

Supporters of Iraq's Shiite party, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, listen to their leader, Ammar al-Hakim, during a rally in Baghdad.

Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah addresses his supporters during a religious procession in Beirut's suburbs.

Security personnel stand guard in Karbala, where around a million pilgrims are expected to converge. Ashura has become a show of strength for Shiites in Iraq, as under Saddam Hussein they faced religious oppression.

Iraqi security forces inspect the site of a suicide attack targeting Iraqi police and Shiite pilgrims in the town of Al-Alam, near Tikrit. Shiite pilgrims are often attacked during Ashura; dozens were killed today.

In Egypt, authorities closed the Shia Al-Husseini Mosque in Cairo so no commemorations were allowed inside.