Ashura (10th of Moharram), is being observed today (Friday) all over the world with due solemnity and sanctity to remember the sacrifice rendered by Hazrat Imam Hussain (R.A) and his companions in Karbala.
Majalis and mourning processions are being held across the country to highlight the philosophy of Karbala incident and pay tributes to the martyrs.
Hussain ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib (11 or 13 January 626 CE – 13 October 680 CE) (3rd / 5th Sha’aban 4 AH – 10th Muharram 61 AH) was the son of Ali ibn Abi Ṭalib (final Rashidun Caliph and first Shia Imam) and Fatimah Zahra (daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad) and the younger brother of Hasan ibn Ali.
Hussein is highly regarded by Muslims because he refused to pledge allegiance to Yazid I the Umayyad caliph because he considered the rules of the Umayyads unjust. As a consequence, he left Medina, his home town, and traveled to Mecca. There, the people of Kufa sent letters to him, asking his help and pledging their allegiance to him. So he traveled to Kufa.
There, his caravan was intercepted by Yazid’s army. He was killed and beheaded in the Battle of Karbala in 680 (61 AH) by Shimr Ibn Thil-Jawshan, along with most of his family and companions.[8] The annual memorial for him, his family, his children and his As’haab (companions) is called Ashura (tenth day of Muharram) and is a day of mourning for Shia Muslims. Anger at Husayn’s death was turned into a rallying cry that helped undermine and ultimately overthrow the Umayyad Caliphate.