The martyrdom of Imam Hussein is central to an understanding of the Shia faith of 200 million Muslims, writes Mary Fitzgerald in Amman
With heads bowed and black chadors flapping in the wind, the women swiftly make their way across the courtyard of the Umayyad mosque in Damascus. It is not the mosque's celebrated mosaics or elegant two-storey arches they have come to see, nor are they interested in paying their respects at the nearby mausoleum of Saladin.
These women, whispering among themselves in Arabic and Farsi, are here to venerate one of the most pivotal figures in Shia Islam, the martyred Imam Hussein, whose head is said to be buried in a small shrine off the main courtyard.
Inside, amid the gloom of the marble-walled shrine, dozens of men and women keen and wail around the zarih, an ornate grille placed over the repository. Some cling to its golden latticing, twisting their fingers in a white-knuckled grip. Others prostrate themselves on the floor, weeping and muttering invocations.
No matter that another mosque in Cairo also claims to house the head of Hussein, for these Shias the Damascus pilgrimage is one of the most important they will make in their lifetime.
No story is more central to Shia Islam than that of the Imam Hussein and his martyrdom on the plain of Karbala in Iraq. Hussein was the son of Ali, the Prophet Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law. In the succession row that followed Muhammad's death, the founders of Shia Islam insisted Ali was the Prophet's rightful heir.
They became known as Shia i-Ali [ Ali's partisans]. The forebears of Sunni Islam, however, supported the appointment of one of the Prophet's companions, Abu Bakr, as the first caliph [ leader].
This dispute set in train Islam's Sunni/Shia schism. Ali eventually became the fourth caliph, but was later murdered. His arch-rival Muawiya replaced him, establishing the autocratic Sunni Umayyad dynasty. Muawiya was succeeded by his son, Yazid.
By the late seventh century, Islam was fractured between those who swore loyalty to Yazid and those who believed Hussein alone, as a direct descendant of the Prophet, had the right to lead the Muslim community.
According to the latmiya, the epic Shia narrative usually chanted at festivals, Hussein led a small band of companions and family in revolt against Yazid, following a plea from those struggling under the tyrannical Umayyad regime. Ultimately betrayed and vastly outnumbered by Yazid's forces, Hussein and his followers were massacred in battle near Karbala.
In the gruesome retelling of the story common in Shia iconography, Hussein was decapitated and his body, slashed with countless sword wounds, was trampled by horses.
Ever since, the death of Hussein has formed the core of Shia theology, with its emphasis on martyrdom, suffering, and an eternal sense of betrayal. This has led some commentators to describe Hussein as a Christ-like figure within Shia orthodoxy.
Ashura, the festival that commemorates Hussein's martyrdom, is Shia Islam's holiest day and is marked by huge mourning processions and passion plays in countries with significant Shia populations. Some men mark Ashura by beating themselves with their fists or flagellating themselves with iron chains to emulate Hussein's suffering.
The importance of what happened that day in Karbala is summed up by the Shia expression: "Every day is Ashura and every place is Karbala."
For Khalid Muhammad Abd Ali, a preacher at the husseiniya [ Shia religious centre] in Milltown, Dublin, Hussein's martyrdom is one of the most basic elements of his faith.
"It means everything for us," he says. "The events of Karbala inform every part of our lives. You cannot understand Shia Islam without knowing about Hussein and Karbala. It is the first lesson every Shia receives about the importance of personal integrity and resisting oppression.
"Everyone dresses in black at Ashura to grieve for Imam Hussein, even children do it though they may not completely understand the meaning."
It is also a powerful part of the ideology that drives Shia political and militant groups. The Karbala narrative was used to stir popular sentiment in pre-revolutionary Iran, with the Shah cast as a modern reincarnation of the wicked and corrupt Yazid. Saddam Hussein's oppression of the majority Shia population in Iraq was interpreted along similar lines.
Lebanon's Hizbullah also draws inspiration from Hussein's martyrdom, Ali Fayyad, a senior member of its leadership, told The Irish Times.
"Imam Hussein was facing two choices, either he abided by an evil and corrupt authority or he got killed. He said 'No, I will die, but in the long-term I am the winner'. This is Karbala, this is Ashura - it is an intrinsic part of the Shia mentality. It is also part of Hizbullah's political thinking. You will find this idea in the mind of every one of us," he says.
It is estimated that there are some 200 million Shia, around 15 per cent of the world's Muslim population. They make up a majority in Iran, Iraq, Bahrain and Azerbaijan, while constituting significant numbers in Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, Pakistan and some Gulf states. More than 10 per cent of Turkey's Muslims adhere to a form of Shia Islam known as Alevism.
According to Khalid Muhammad Abd Ali, the Shia population in Ireland runs between 3,000 and 5,000. Most originate from Iraq and Iran, but there are also some from Lebanon, Pakistan and the Gulf.
Khalid (46) came to Ireland three years ago and is originally from Najaf in Iraq. He, like many Shia worldwide, applauds what appears to be a recent reversal of fortunes for their beleaguered faith.
With the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime and subsequent rise of Shia power in Iraq, long-standing fears of persecution and oppression have given way to a growing Shia confidence.
"We can hold our heads up high now," says Khalid, who was imprisoned as a student under the Saddam regime.
Mohammed Ali (31), a final year electronic engineering student at DCU, agrees. An Iraqi from Mosul, he has lived in Ireland for six years.
"During the Hussein regime, it was forbidden for us to practise our faith openly in Iraq," Mohammed explains. "Now we can celebrate Ashura in public and demonstrate our religion without fear. I think this has given hope and a new confidence to Shia in other countries too.
"Personally, it has had a huge effect on me. Before, if someone asked me if I was Sunni or Shia, I would say Sunni because I was afraid to say Shia. Now I'm proud to declare myself Shia."
Sunni leaders have expressed alarm about this Shia resurgence, particularly its political manifestations. In 2004, King Abdullah of Jordan warned of the possibility of a "Shia crescent" stretching from Iran through Iraq and Lebanon.
Fayaz Ahmad, editor of UK-based website Shianews.com, cautions against confusing political ideologies in some Shia countries with the religion itself.
"In my opinion, the biggest misunderstanding about the Shia community today is that Shias and Shia clerics have similar opinions, especially on political issues," he says. "The situation in Lebanon for example, has nothing to do with Shia Islam, but only with some political Shia clerics. The support offered to Hizbullah by Iran is not actually from the Iranian people but from the clerics there to the clerics running Hizbullah. The result is scores of innocent people are paying the price with their lives in Lebanon as well as Israel.
"The Shia faith, if not politicised by the clergy, is more liberal and open to debate than any other sect in Islam.
"If the US has issues with Iran's nuclear capabilities, it should not take it as a threat from the Shia community. Similarly, the actions of Hizbullah should also be dealt with as Lebanon's internal problem and not something that has been triggered by the Shia faith."
Mohammed Ali agrees, bemoaning the stereotyping of Shia Muslims. "You cannot generalise about Shia," he says. "Some disagree with Hizbullah, others support them. Some are unhappy with the situation in Iran and others back it. There are many differing opinions." He complains that for many in the West, Shia Islam has become synonymous with images of bloodied flagellants parading during Ashura.
"Unfortunately too many people think of blood, swords and chains when you mention the Shia faith," he says, pointing out that many Shia clerics, particularly in Iran, have declared the practice unIslamic.
"Most Shia consider it unacceptable, something that only uneducated extremists do. There is a real problem of misunderstanding and lack of awareness when it comes to the way non-Shias view us."
Sunni/Shia tensions have continued to this day, the most virulent recent example being Iraq's sectarian violence. Those who subscribe to extreme interpretations of Sunni Islam, such as Wahhabism and Salafism, view Shia Muslims as heretics.
Al-Qaeda members, from Ayman al-Zawahiri to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, have described them as such. In Wahhabi-dominated Saudi Arabia, the Shia Muslim minority complain of government sanctioned prejudice and harassment.
Mainstream Sunni and Shia clerics, however, have worked together on certain issues. Sheikhs at Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's oldest seat of learning, have pronounced Shia Islam a valid school of thought, along with the four Sunni schools. Last year, more than 170 Sunni and Shia leaders from some 40 countries signed the Amman Statement, calling for a united front to combat extremist thought and sectarianism.
Such co-operation is welcome, says Fayaz Ahmad, but discrimination and persecution is still a reality for many ordinary Shia worldwide. "As far as some other countries are concerned, the picture unfortunately is not very different to the way Shia are treated in Saudi Arabia," he says.
"In some cases, it is actually far worse. For example, in countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan, our community is facing massacres at the hands of Wahhabi groups like the Taliban." It was ever thus, shrugs Mohammed Ali. "For some Sunnis, we have always been unbelievers."
maryfitzgerald@irish-times.ie
Mary Fitzgerald is the inaugural winner of the Douglas Gageby Fellowship. Her reports on "The Faces of Islam" appear in Friday's Irish Times.