Visual and Narrative Analysis of South Asian Muslim Religious History and Culture: Muharram Rituals
a blog post that engages issues and themes from one of the four modules from the course. Blogs are an efficient means of knowledge mobilization by which one can disseminate research to wide audiences. Blog writing can convey in-depth research in ways that make it relevant and meaningful to the public. Many blogs are academic in nature although the reader may not be aware of this because of the accessible writing style and effective use of images to visually stimulate and keep the reader’s attention. Your blog entry will be between 1000- and 1500-words and will include images that you properly cite. Please see instructions below for proper attribution of images in a blog. Your blog post should include images, sound, maps, and other media to illustrate your narrative. The learning objective of the blog post is to produce a visual and narrative analysis of an aspect of South Asian Muslim religious history and culture.
The details (instructions):
Citations: Proper attribution of your sources is absolutely necessary. Failure to cite your sources is a violation of Academic Integrity (please see pp. 14–16). Since you are writing a blog, you will want to do the following to streamline your citations:
Hyperlink your sources: If you are citing a journal article, you can hyperlink to it. For example, see the hyperlinks I have provided in the course syllabus. This WikiHow Links to an external site.explains how to insert a hyperlink in a Word document for users of Mac and PCs. https://www(dot)wikihow(dot)com/Insert-a-Hyperlink-in-Microsoft-Word Links to an external site.(I have also hyperlinked above!)
You can hyperlink source credits for images, as well, so long as your image source is stable.
You can also provide hyperlinks to scholarly websites. How to evaluate the credibility of a website. I recommend these helpful guidelines for evaluating web pages from Colorado State: https://libguides(dot)colostate(dot)edu/howtodo/evaluatewebpage Links to an external site.. Please do NOT use Wikipedia. We do not encourage use of Wikipedia because authorship of pages is crowdsourced, and authorship is not attributed.
Formatting and Requirements:
1000-1500-words (for those working in pairs, your blog entry must be minimum 1500-words)
A catchy title
Written in a scholarly, yet approachable tone
The topic should take a history of religions approach (focus on practices, institutions, texts, and communities of Muslims in South Asia) reflecting broader themes and questions engaged in the course.
The blog should integrate image, sound, maps and other media in appropriate ways to focus readers’ attention.
All sources must be appropriately cited.
A reference list is to be included at the end of the blog.
Acceptable document formats for submission: doc or docx
Question: Since this is a blog, do I need to have a reference list?
Answer: Yes, you do!
All works cited must use the University of Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition. For the reference list see the University of Chicago Manual of Style and Kate Turabian’s A Manual for Writers. https://guides(dot)library(dot)utoronto(dot)ca/RLG-UTML/citing-sources
Recommended on the web page:
Citation Quick Guide: Notes and Bibliography: Sample Citations
14.23: Notes and Bibliography—examples and variations
A Visual and Narrative Analysis of an Aspect of South Asian Muslim Religious History and Culture: Muharram Rituals
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A Visual and Narrative Analysis of an Aspect of South Asian Muslim Religious History and Culture: Muharram Rituals
Muharram Rituals
The Muharram festival originates from the events that took place centuries ago, when Imam Hussain, Prophet Mohammed’s grandson, died as a martyr. At the same time, his family was also mercilessly killed during the battle of Karbala. The term Muharram means forbidden. It is a holy tie that forbids Muslims from engaging in fun activities (Hindustan Times, 2022). Instead, it encourages prayer and reflection among Muslims as they mourn the death of Imam Hussain, who died a martyr alongside his family and followers (Mahima, 2019). These deaths resulted from warfare in Karbala between the Umayyad Caliph, Yazid 1 military, Imam Hussain and his family, and Prophet Muhammed and his family and their followers. Imam Hussain fought with his family, friends, young children, and women during the battle. However, Yazid 1 had a stronger army that was well-equipped and strategized (Zarifpooya et al., 2021). They also had weapons that gave them an advantage over Prophet Mohammed, his grandson, Imam Hussain, and their followers (The Times of India, 2021a). The army took advantage of their strengths and captured Imam Hussain alongside his relatives. The military under Yazid 1 starved Imam Hussain for three days after capturing them, denying them food and water (Ernest, 2021). The army later brutally killed Imam Hussain and his son and relatives who had been captured (Ahmed, 2012). The event was a major catastrophe in the history of Muslims. It also marked a period of sadness and grief in the Muslim fraternity. This influenced the rise of the Muharram festival to commemorate and remember these deaths. Therefore, Muslims mark the tenth day of Muharram in remembrance of the lost souls by mourning.
Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 1 Mourners carrying a replica of Imam Hussain’s tomb during Muharram (Yashee, 2020)
In the Islamic religion, Muharram is a month that marks the start of the Hijar calendar. Muharram rituals are celebrated during this month. Muharram marks the beginning of a New year in the Islamic religion (Muharram, 2020). Muslims consider Muharram as the second holiest month, the second after Ramadhan (Hindustan Times, 2022). Any form of war is forbidden during the Muharram festival. During Muharram, the Sunni Muslims fast to commemorate when Musa saved the Israelites from Pharao (Argon, 2014). The Shia Muslims mark Muharram by mourning for the Martyrs of Karbala. Muharram is also important for Shia Muslims because it marks when Prophet Mohammad moved from Medina to Mecca (Ilahi, 2007). The Sufi Muslims mark Muharram by fasting to commemorate when the Israelites were saved from Pharao by Musa while also mourning for the martyr of Karbala.
Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 2 Muharram is celebrated as the advent of the Islamic New Year (The Times of India, 2021a)
Muharram celebrations last for ten days. During Muharram, Muslims change their dress code to wear black as a sign of grief and sadness. They also do not engage in activities like celebrations or listen to music to commemorate the grieving period (Mirzayeva, 2021). The tenth day of Muharram, often called Ashura, commemorates the most tragic day for Muslims (Hindustan Times, 2022). For Shia Muslims, the tenth day of Muharram is considered the most tragic day because it marks the day when the most tragic event occurred. Shia Muslims believe that Imam Hussein was denied access to drinking water on the tenth day, and he was forced to bow down to the caliph (Stanfield-Johnson, 2013). Imam Hussein’s family also experienced harsh treatment on the tenth day as they were also denied drinking water and then killed by Yazid 1 (Petrocchi, 2017). To pay tribute to and mourn Imam Hussein, Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, and his family, the Shia Muslims deny themselves the valuable things they like to do, such as attending festivals and listening to music (The Times of India, 2021a). Instead, they participate in religious meetings and prayers. The Sunni Muslims commemorate the tenth day of Muharram by fasting and prayer. Although fasting is optional, they strongly believe in receiving a reward from Allah by fasting on the tenth day.
Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 3 Mourning rituals at the Islamic Center of Hamburg in Germany (Tschannen, 2022)
Mourning during Muharram begins from the first to the tenth day among the Muslim communities. During this period, no other activities such as celebrations, weddings, and festivities occur as the Muslims dedicate the ten days to the lost souls (HeydarI et al., 2020). The Muslims also mark the Muharram festival by maintaining a dress code, which is mainly black clothes. They also fast and only break their fast on the tenth day (The Times of India, 2021b). Another common practice by Muslims on the tenth day involves them beating themselves with objects and chains in the streets as they pay tribute to Imam Hussain, who died as a martyr (Stanfield-Johnson, 2013). By beating and harming themselves, Muslims portray the pain, torture, and sorrow that their leader, Imam Hussain, went through before his death. This is also a sign of mourning their leader. Others mourn Imam Hussain by honoring him through songs, slogans, and hymns.
Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 4 The Nakhl Gardani ritual is carried out on the Day of Ashura in Iran (Ziabari, 2020)
Other than mourning, Muslims commemorate Muharram to remember Allah’s grace for His people when he saved them from Pharao in Israel. The Sunni and Sufi Muslims practice fasting on the tenth day as a thanksgiving to Allah for saving them from their oppressors (Bahna & Talmont-kaminski, 2022). Shia Muslims mainly practice mourning and engage in street processions, chest-beating, partial fasting, and conducting re-enactments of the events of the battle of Karbala (Alibhai, 2018). They also avoid engaging in fun activities since the period is only to mourn and remember the sorrowful events that led to their leaders, families, and community deaths.
Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 5 The day of ‘Ashura’ (Art Culture, 2017)
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