'Defining day' — Utah Shiites join in mourning ancient slaughter

SOUTH SALT LAKE — The Shiites gathered daily during the last weeks of January at the Alrasool Islamic Center in South Salt Lake. They were in South Salt Lake only in the physical sense, however.

In another, more important, way they were actually gathered at Karbala, south of Baghdad, in the year 638. They were weeping over the slaughter of their loved ones on a day called Ashoura.

A Canadian religious scholar, Vernon James Schubel, describes the nature of Shiite piety by saying "every day is Ashoura and every place is Karbala." Schubel says events like those at the mosque this past week are "metahistorical." They transcend time and penetrate the heart.

For Shiite Muslims, then, the 10th day of the first month of the Islamic calendar is a defining day. The word Ashoura simply means "10th day," and this year it fell on Jan. 30. A imam named Hussein, the grandson of the prophet Muhammad, was killed on that day, nearly 1,400 years ago in Karbala.

The Shiites tell it this way: There was a dispute over who should lead Islam, and those of the Umayyad clan slew Hussein, put his head on a pole and carried it in front of them as they headed back to Damascus. Hussein's family was slain as well — even his infant son. His followers were killed, too, perhaps as many as 110 of them. The Shiites made the final split from the Sunnis that day, splitting from those on the winning side of the battle.

The Shiites still believe Allah designates the leaders. The Sunnis still believe there was no successor appointed by Allah after Muhammad. They say the Quran gives sufficient guidance.

So last week, while most Muslims around the globe ignored the day, the Shiites, who make up about 20 percent of the world's Muslims, mourned together. Several million Shiites came to Karbala, Iraq.

In Utah more than 200 adults and children gathered at the Alrasool mosque. The walls were draped in black and adorned with posters listing the names of some of those who died at Karbala. The worshippers listened to poetry and orations designed to take them back in time. For 13 nights they gathered, grieving more loudly as the nights progressed. On Ashoura, which was Tuesday, they spent the day and the evening at the mosque.

Each night began in prayer. Dinner followed. As they always do, the men and boys sat separately from the women and girls. The toddlers trotted back and forth between the two groups — playing in their mothers' laps, being kissed by their fathers, being offered treats or affection or correction by other adults.