Expatriate Iraqis mourn for Imam Hussein in southern Tehran
Yusef Jalali
Press TV, Tehran
As Muslims are marking the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussain, the third Shia Imam, Dowlatabad district in southern Tehran has also stepped up its unique traditions of marking the occasion.
Dowlatabad neighborhood is called the small Iraq. It is home to over 100,000 Iraqi expatriates who fled former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s persecution in the 70s and 80s.
Each year during the first 10 days of the lunar month of Muharram, they hold mourning ceremonies indigenous to Iraq, which are practiced as a symbol of renewing allegiance to Imam Hussein.
Imam Hussain and 72 of his companions were killed in Karbala in 680 AD after they refused to pay allegiance to the Umayyad ruler, Yazid ibn Muawiya, who is known for corruption and injustice.
Still after nearly 14 centuries, Imam Hussein is remembered as the symbol of resistance and self-sacrifice, and this is what has kept these Iraqi expatriates awake until very late at night.
There's an old saying in the Shia faith that goes, every day is Ashura and every land is Karbala. That's exactly what is manifested here by these Iraqi expatriates. They say no matter where they live, they keep the memory of Imam Hussain alive, to draw the lesson of self sacrifice in the path of righteousness.
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