Annual_ritual_observed_on_the_10th_day_of_Muharram_in_Al_Manama_Bahrain

''Tatbir'' ( ar, تطبير), also known as Talwar zani and Qama Zani in

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

, is a form of ritual bloodletting, practiced as an act of mourning by some

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

s, for the younger grandson of

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...

Husayn ibn Ali Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, أبو عبد الله الحسين بن علي بن أبي طالب; 10 January 626 – 10 October 680) was a grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a son of Ali ibn Abi ...

, who was killed along with his children, companions and near relatives at the Battle of Karbala by the

Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the ...

Caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

Yazid I Yazid ibn Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan ( ar, يزيد بن معاوية بن أبي سفيان, Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiya ibn ʾAbī Sufyān; 64611 November 683), commonly known as Yazid I, was the second caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate. He ruled from ...

Performance of Tatbir

Brooklyn Museum - Ghamezani Muhharran One of 274 Vintage Photographs

Tatbir is practiced by some Shia Muslims on the 10

Muharram Muḥarram ( ar, ٱلْمُحَرَّم) (fully known as Muharram ul Haram) is the first month of the Islamic calendar. It is one of the four sacred months of the year when warfare is forbidden. It is held to be the second holiest month after R ...

of the

Islamic calendar The Hijri calendar ( ar, ٱلتَّقْوِيم ٱلْهِجْرِيّ, translit=al-taqwīm al-hijrī), also known in English as the Muslim calendar and Islamic calendar, is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or ...

, known as "the Day of Ashura", and on the 40th day after Ashura, Known as " Arba'een/Chehelom" by Twelvers around the world. Some Shia may also perform tatbir on other occasions as well. The practice of Tatbir includes striking oneself with a form of a ''talwar'' "sword" on the head, causing blood to flow in remembrance of the innocent blood of Imam Husayn. Some Twelvers also hit their back and/or chest with blades attached to chains.

Fatwas

Tatbir are contested among Shia clerics. While some traditionalist clerics allow believers to indulge in tatbir, modernist clerics deem it impermissible because it is considered self-harm, thus haram in Islam. Most religious authorities associate all forms of self-flagellation and blood-letting as ways to relate to painful deaths during the battle of Karbala by

Imam Husayn Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, أبو عبد الله الحسين بن علي بن أبي طالب; 10 January 626 – 10 October 680) was a grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a son of Ali ibn Abi ...

and supporters. Fayyaz

Criticisms

* There are different opinion about the practice of Tatbir. Some

Marja believe that it is a form of self-harm, so it must be forbidden. According to some Shia Marja, it is felt Tatbir reflects on Shia observers poorly, so they typically advise to avoid it in a region where

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...

s also reside. * Iraqi sociologist Ibrahim al-Haidari has called Tatbir an irrational act. He states blood donations should replace Tatbir. Iraqi cleric

Hussein Al-Sadr Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Hussein Ismael Al-Sadr is a high-ranking Shi’a Muslim religious scholar in Iraq. He was born in the al-Kazimiya district of Baghdad, Iraq, where he resides to this day. He is widely seen as a highly respected unifying f ...

and his followers donate blood every year during the mourning of Husayn ibn Ali. *

Hassan Nasrallah Hassan Nasrallah ( ar, حسن نصر الله ; born 31 August 1960) is a Lebanese cleric and political leader who has served as the 3rd secretary-general of Hezbollah since his predecessor, Abbas al-Musawi, was assassinated by the Israel Def ...

, the leader of

Hezbollah Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's parami ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

, has also taken steps to end Tatbir. Instead of practicing Tatbir, he offered to donate blood on

Ashura day Ashura (, , ) is a day of commemoration in Islam. It occurs annually on the 10th of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar. Among Shia Muslims, Ashura is observed through large demonstrations of high-scale mourning as it marks the ...

to patients who need it. *

Mohammad Mehdi Shamseddine Ayatollah Mohammad Mahdi Shamseddine ( ar, محمد مهدي شمس الدين) was a Lebanese Twelver Shia scholar. Shahid Awwal who known as Shamseddine, sun of the faith, was ancestor of Muhammad Mahdi. Biography Mohammad Mehdi Shamseddine ...

established a blood bank in Najaf to donate blood on Ashura day to patients who need it.

References

External links

What is Tatbir?

Tatbir is a wrongful and fabricated tradition
{{Mourning of Muharram Mourning of Muharram Shia fiqh Islamic terminology Islam-related controversies Self-harm

Performance of Tatbir

Fatwas

Criticisms

See also

References

External links