Students spread word of Ashoura

For thousands of Shiite Muslims around the world, today is a day of mourning and recognition of peace and human rights. It is the sacred observance of Ashoura, which commemorates a saint who was killed because he refused to follow a tyrant leader. \nThis year, senior Mohammed Mahdi and his sister Hajira have decided to help educate students about the meaning of the occasion and its significance by handing out fliers with information about Ashoura on campus. \nDr. Abrar Mahdi, their father and former president of the Midwest Association of Shia Organized Muslims, encouraged them to share the historical occasion with the campus.\n"We believe the message is one of human rights and dignity and justice," said 24-year-old Hajira Mahdi, a graduate of Mount Holyoke College. "We use that message to try to overcome the oppression that's going on right now."\nAround 80 A.D., Imam Hussain and his followers entered into a 10-day battle with Yazid, the ruler of the Middle East at the time, and his troops, according to the pair's fliers. Yazid, who killed anyone who didn't follow him, wanted to kill Hussain because he refused accept Yazid as the ruler. Yazid's army of 30,000 battled approximately 72 of Hussain's followers, who were mostly young people and women. Hussain had to watch as his wife and children were slain, but he maintained peace and dignity, and was eventually stoned and speared to death, according to the flier. Because of this, the siblings said his story lives on as one of both sadness and dignity.\n"It's sad on one hand, but liberating for us as human beings," Hajira Mahdi said. "It's liberating and inspiring for us to uphold human rights and peace and justice."\nThis month, which Muslims call Muharram, is the first of their new year, and the first 10 days of the month are dedicated to Ashoura. This is because Hussain's followers battled Yazid's troops for 10 days. Shiites go to a mosque each day during this time, and the imam, the equivalent of a priest, tells Hussain's story. After prayer, they gather, eat food and talk about the occasion. \nAshoura is widely celebrated in larger cities like New York and Chicago, where Shiites march through the streets carrying banners and distributing literature on the topic, the Mahdis said. The Mahdis' mosque in their hometown of Chicago welcomes between 800 and 900 Shiite to its Ashoura worship service each year, they said. Mohammed Mahdi said that in the four years he has been at IU, no one on campus has extensively recognized Ashoura or educated students about it. He said this is probably because most Muslim students on campus are Sunnis, and the Bloomington mosque is a Sunni mosque. Some Sunnis recognize the Ashoura, but most don't know much about it, the siblings said.\nShiite and Sunni Muslims have different traditions during Muharram, said senior Adnan Riaz, a Sunni Muslim. Shiites see the month as a time to mourn Hussain's suffering, while some Sunnis make a special effort to give during the month because the lives of the great-grandchildren of their leader, Muhammad, were lost, he said. Muslims split into the Shiite and Sunni groups after the death of Muhammad because they chose to follow different leaders. \nBut the Mahdis said Ashoura is something all people can learn from.\n"We encourage everyone to join us in our message," Hajira Mahdi said. "Rulers all over the world, not just in the Middle East, are trying to suppress people's rights. That's why it's important now to remember that it's hard to stand up for justice, but that's what ultimately prevails -- the truth and people's dignity and freedom"