Imambarah

A ḥosayniya or hussainiya (Arabic: حسينية ''husayniyya''), also known as an ashurkhana, imambargah, or imambara, is a congregation hall for Twelver Shia Muslim commemoration ceremonies, especially those associated with the Mourning of Muharram. Hussainiya is a multitude hall for the mourning of Muharram and other commemoration rituals of Shia that its name gets from Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad.

Terminology

A hussainiya is different from a mosque. The name comes from Husayn ibn Ali, the third of the Twelve Imams and the grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Husayn was martyred at the Battle of Karbala on 10 October 680 CE during the reign of Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad. The Shia commemorate his martyrdom every year on Ashura, the 10th day of Muharram. There are also other ceremonies which are held during the year in hussainiyas, including religious commemorations unrelated to Ashura. and may not necessarily hold jumu'ah (Friday congregational prayer).

In South Asia, a hussainiya can also be referred to as an ''imambara'', ''imambargah'', or ''ashurkhana''. In Afghanistan and Central Asia, it is also called a ''takyakhana''. In Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, it is called a ''ma'tam'' ( ar, مأتم).

History

From the time of the Safavid was ruling in Iran, when Shia tended to hold the religious and mourning ceremonies, not only the passageways or the roofed places were used for the religious communities, even to make the Hoseynias and also Takyeh(s) became commonplace. Any Hosseynia had some booths (or rooms) and arcades, both in large and small sizes. Also in many alleys and streets, on the days near Ashoura, the religious people blackened the walls and the roofs and illuminated them, by the colorful lights... From the age of Zand, many bigger and vaster Takye(s) was made just to hold Tazia, where there was a stage by the height of one meter from the floor, to show the different senses of Tazieh. Expense of the Hussainiya is provided by Charitable donations and endowments.

Usage

Hussainiya was used during Muharram, Safar, and Ramadan for mourning, Rawda Khwani, Sineh Zani (a Customary form of mourning ceremony which shows their grief with chest-beating). Also, Hussainiya is a place for accommodations of passengers and pilgrims and feeding the poor.
Since hussainiya serves as a focal point for Shi’i gathering, it also plays a very significant role in consolidation of religious identity specially for Shi’i population in diaspora.Vermon James Schubel (1996). “Karbala as Sacred Space among North American Shi'a” in Making Muslim Space in North America and Europe, edited by Barbara Metcalf, 186-203. Berkeley: University of California Press.
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Notable hussainias

*Hosseinieh Azam Zanjan Mosque, in Zanjan, Iran
* Azakhana Syed Dost Ali, Mohallah Katkoi, Amroha, built in 1766/1767
* Hussaini Dalan, in Dhaka, Bangladesh
* Prithimpasha Nawab Bari Imambara, in Kulaura, Bangladesh
* Bara Imambara, in Lucknow, India
*Chhota Imambara, in Lucknow, India
*Hooghly Imambara, in Hooghly (W.B.), India
*Nizamat Imambara, in Murshidabad, India
*Badshahi Ashurkhana, in Hyderabad, India
*Dar uz Zehra, Alipur, Karnataka, India.
*Hosseiniyeh Ershad, in Tehran, Iran
*Hussaini Imambara Asim Raza Abdi, in 100/46, Colonel Ganj Kanpur,
*Imambara Ghufran Ma'ab, in Lucknow, India
Imambargah Mir Vilayat Husain
in Karari Allahabad, India
*Azakhana Wazeer-un-Nisa, located in Amroha, India. The Azakhana was built in 1802 (1226 Hijri) with one Mosque.
*Imambargah Haveli Sa'daat, one of the oldest Imambargahs in Gujranwala, Pakistan. It was built by the Naqvi Sadat family, who migrated from Fatehgarh Churian, Punjab, India.
*Imambargah Bait Aal e Imran, in Kotla Arab Ali Khan, Gujrat, Pakistan. The site was donated by Choudhary Ghulam Hassan, a sunni by birth, and his wife in 1979.
*Imam Bargah mosque, Afghanistan, targeted in the 2021 Kandahar bombing

See also

* Ashura
* Mourning of Muharram
* Battle of Karbala
* Husayn ibn Ali
* Hussaini Dalan
* Tasu'a
* Imambaras of Lucknow
* Rawda Khwani

References

{{Islamic architecture

Islamic architectural elements
Islamic architecture
Cultural depictions of Husayn ibn Ali
Islamic terminology
Battle of Karbala