On Muharram and Ireland’s Growing Shia Community

By Opinion Editor Baneen Talpur

The start of the new year is an unhappy time for many Muslims. In fact, for Shia Muslims around the world, the first month of the Islamic calendar, or Muharram, is a period of mourning. Shia Muslims mourn the death of Imam Hussain (AS), Prophet Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) grandson, who alongside his family and small group of companions was killed brutally in the battle of Karbala, Iraq.

After prophet Muhammad’s death, Muslims were split into two groups: Sunnis, who picked Abu Bakr as their leader and Shias, who believed that Ali, the prophet’s cousin, should have been leader of the caliphate. Over the years, tensions grew between the groups and Imam Hussain was killed by Yazid, the ruler at the time. The story is a heartbreaking one; the Imam’s family was denied food and water for three days, and those who survived the battle were taken prisoner and lost everything. 

Bibi Zainab, Imam Hussain’s sister, started protesting against Yazid and the crimes he committed against the family, such as murder and child abuse to name a few. Shia Muslims use this time to protest injustice. People wear black as a sign of mourning, take to the streets, tell the story of the Imam, and serve food and water ensuring that no one goes to sleep hungry or thirsty like the Imam was forced to. 

I grew up Shia, so every Muharram my family made sure we took part in the rituals. We would go to our local mosque, listen to the story, and serve food. However, our community was small, with only 5-10 people at a session.

Now the community is growing. This year RTE released a documentary about the Shia community in Ireland, something I never thought would happen. The documentary shows how the Shia community in Dublin began and how it has grown over the years. Now the community is multicultural with Pakistanis, Iraqi, Iranian and Afghan communities in the country. Each year millions are willing to partake in commemorations and mourn the death of the Imam as if he were their own family.

We can learn a lot from this 1400-year-old story. The Imam stood up against a dictator. He fought for what was right even though his army only had 72 people while the opposition had thousands. He gave everything up for what he believed in. Anyone can be inspired by the story and learn to speak the truth and fight for what’s right even if their voice shakes.