Shiites flagellate themselves to mark Ashura (AFP)

KARBALA, Iraq, March 1 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Hundreds of thousands of Shiites descended Monday, March 1, on the southern Iraqi holy city of Karbala to mark Ashura religious occasion, commemorating the death of one of Islam’s most revered religious figures.

Karbala, known as the city of peace, was on knife's edge as U.S.-appointed police and Shiites feared a major attack during the holy event, which marks the anniversary of the killing of Prophet Muhammad's grandson Al-Hussein in 61 A.H. (680 A.D.), reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

As Shiites from far-flung locations in Pakistan, Iran and eastern Asia paraded in the streets in front of the two towering gold-domed mosques where Al-Hussein and his half-brother Abbas are buried, security teams cordoned off the area around the holy shrines, checking bags and identification.

It is the first time in 25 years that Iraqi Shiites mark the ritual after the ouster of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein in April 2003.

The U.S.-led occupation forces were nowhere to be seen except on the far northern outskirts of Karbala. Checkpoints were manned about 20 kilometers (12 miles) outside the city by followers of the Mahdi army, the private militia of the anti-occupation firebrand Shiite scholar Moqtada Al-Sadr.

Security forces stationed around and inside the city were manned by followers of the Iraqi Shiites' spiritual leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani and the Badr Organization, the militia of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI).

The Badr Organization has openly worried about the possibility of attacks during the festival which climaxes Tuesday, March 2, on the 10th day of the month of Muharram.

Shiites were worried after a series of attacks since August 2003 that targeted veteran authorities.

The head of SCIRI, Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim, was assassinated in August 2003 when a car bomb exploded after Friday prayers. Another 82 people died in the blast.

Exaggeration

As many Shiites used to flagellate their chests and backs with their hands and chains in a show of remorse for Al-Hussein's death, a Shiite intellectual said the grief should no be exaggerated.

Hani Fahs told an IslamOnline.net’s live dialogue on Sunday, February 29, that the occasion should not slip into an objection to destiny, denouncing the beating of chests, cheeks and backs.

“I am a Shiite Muslim and a descendant of Al-Hussein, but my family and I never strike cheeks or beat chests.

“However, we all mourn the killing of Al-Hussein, following in the footsteps of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), who shed tears on the death of his son [Ibrahim],” Fahs said.

He said there is nothing wrong in lamenting the death of your beloved ones provided that it will degenerate into self-torture and objection to destiny.

The Shiite intellectual urged the Shiites to seize the occasion to act in unison in the face of daunting challenges facing Muslims worldwide.

“It should be an occasion to raise Muslim awareness of perils ahead,” he said.

Slapping the face, tearing clothes, slashing the back and hitting the head with swords are all forbidden acts in Islam.