3. Commemoration of Karbala on days of Ashura’a
Since the martyrdom of Hussein ibn Ali, the third Imam, Shiite Muslims spend the Islamic month of Muharram every year in mourning, and they do so specifically on the days of Ashura’a by taking out processions and engaging in matam (beating of the chest). This is done majorly because of the inhumane manner in which the Imam and his 72 devoted followers were deprived of basic necessities before they were mercilessly killed, despite the Imam being honorable and simply taking a stand against the tyranny of the then caliph Yazid. Sunnis also remember this incident on the days of Ashura’a, but they do not engage in the elaborate acts of mourning that Shias do.
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