ISTANBUL, March 1 (IslamOnline.net) - Shiite Muslims in Turkey marked the death of one of Islam’s most revered religious figures Monday, March 1, with blood donations instead of the long-established self-flagellation.

It is the first time in the history of Shiites that they give up commemorating the occasion cutting their foreheads and beat the wound to make the blood splash out as they march.

In an Istanbul square, thousands of Shiite men and women lined up before a Red Crescent vehicle ready to take their blood on the anniversary of the killing of Prophet Muhammad's grandson Al-Hussein in 61 A.H. (680 A.D.).

The blood-donations came upon calls made by Ahl Al-Beit (The Prophet’s Household) charity and sponsored by the Turkish religious affairs authority - a move the government-run body took for the first time.

"We decided this year to halt the phenomenon of people beating and wounding themselves in celebration," said Salaheddin Ozgundoz, head of the charity, said.

Shiites usually slap their chests with wooden-handled flails attached to steel blades.

Another group on the square revived the painful memory in an acted scene with sound effects and black flags in the backdrop.

Eulogies heard from a mosque in the square were intercepted by crying people mourning Al-Hussein's death. The government also asked mosque imams to revive the memory with speeches.

Turkey has from two to three million Shiites mostly living in northeastern areas.

The self-flagellation has been banned in many countries peopled by majority of Shiites.

In Iran, the blood-letting is banned and many fatwas, or religious rulings, have been issued declaring the custom forbidden.

Hezbollah, one of the two main Shiite parties in Lebanon, believes the blood-letting gives a backward image of Islam.

For several years now the group has been trying to encourage participants to donate blood - instead of spilling it on the streets, said the BBC News Online.

Every year, the organization sets up blood donation tents in towns like Nabatiyyeh.

Shiite intellectuals are also working for the beating traditions to disappear and for the grief not to be exaggerated.

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

on the southern Iraqi holy city of Karbala, hundreds of thousands of Shiites from many countries descended to mark the occasion.

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.

For Fahs, there is nothing wrong to lament 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.