Shia Islamic Tradition

Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam, comprising approximately 10 to 13 percent of the world's Muslim population, with the largest concentrations in Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Lebanon, and parts of Pakistan, India, and Yemen. The Shia Islamic calendar follows the same lunar Hijri system as the Sunni calendar but determines the start of months through the Ja'fari methodology, which often produces dates differing from the Sunni Saudi-aligned dates by one day. The Shia year is profoundly shaped by the commemoration of the Battle of Karbala in 680 CE and the martyrdom of Imam Husayn ibn Ali, grandson of the Prophet ﷺ. The first ten days of Muharram are observed as the Ashura mourning period, culminating in the tenth-day commemoration with majlis poetic mourning gatherings, processions called azadari that retrace the events of Karbala, and the rhythmic chest-beating expression of grief called matam. Forty days after Ashura, the Arba'in observance brings the world's largest annual pilgrimage with twenty million or more visitors arriving on foot at Karbala. Shia traditions also commemorate additional birthdays and martyrdom anniversaries of the Twelve Imams, including the birth of Imam Ali on thirteenth Rajab and the birth of Imam Mahdi on fifteenth Sha'ban (Nimeh Sha'ban).