The root for the word ashura has the meaning of tenth in Semitic languages; hence the name of the remembrance, literally translated, means "the tenth day”.
The Day of Ashura is on the 10th day of Muharram in the Islamic calender and marks the climax of the Mourning of Muharram.
It is commemorated by Shi'a Muslims as a day of mourning for the martyrdom of Husayn Ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad at the Battle of Karbala on 10 Muharram in the year 680 .
For Shi'as, it is a period of intense grief and mourning. Mourners, congregate at a Mosque for sorrowful, poetic recitations performed in memory of the martyrdom of Husayn, lamenting and grieving to the tune of beating drums and chants of "Ya Husayn”.
In reference to Iranian Shiism Tazieh is a kind of Passion Play on the tragic fate of Hassan and Hussein.
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