عاشورا

/ ashura /

noun · Shia mourning day

Meaning

معنی

Shia Iranians mark âshurâ with public mourning processions, black banners, and food distribution to the community (نذری, nazri). The story of Hossein's martyrdom, refusing to bow to the Umayyad caliph Yazid, dying with his small band against an army, is central to Shia identity and political imagination. Religious schools rehearse the events for weeks. Jews and Sunni Muslims also mark the 10th of Muharram, but with different observances; for Shia Iran it is the most heavily-felt day of the year.

How it's used

Ashura mourning intensity varies sharply by region. Mashhad (home to Imam Reza's shrine) and Qom (Shia seminary city) see the most elaborate processions, with thousands marching in chest-beating sine-zani groups. Tehran has both intense religious neighborhoods (south Tehran) and largely secular ones (north Tehran) where Ashura passes with little public observance. In Lorestan, Khuzestan, and the south generally, observance is more universal and intense. Sunni-majority regions (parts of Kurdistan, Baluchistan, and Turkmen-speaking areas) observe the day differently or not at all. Iranian Shia diaspora communities maintain mourning processions in Los Angeles, London, Toronto, and Sydney, often centered around local imambaras.

In a sentence

مثال

روز عاشورا

ruz-e âshurâ

the day of âshurâ

The company it keeps

هم‌نشین‌ها

You rarely meet a word alone — here it is, at work beside others.

محرم

moharram

the month of Muharram

کربلا

Karbalâ

Karbala, the battle site in Iraq

حسین

Hosseyn

Imam Hossein

روضه

rowze

mourning sermon, lamentation

سینه‌زنی

sine-zani

chest-beating ritual mourning

In its constellation

در پیوند

No word stands alone. Follow a thread to the words it lives beside — hover to read one, click to open it.

See it in the whole constellation →

عاشوراashura

نذرnazr محرمmahram اربعینarba'in عراقArâgh سینه‌زنیsineh-zani سیاه‌پوشsiyâhpush

عاشوراashura

keeps company with ۶ words