Abridged from Persian Miniatures by H. G. Dwight, Doubleday, Page & Company, N.Y., 1917.

In 1913, Mr. H. G. Dwight visited the city of Hamadan in northern Iran (Persia). There he observed a "play" during the month of Moharrem (the first month of the Islamic year). This play reenacted the death of a Shi'a martyr (someone who was killed for their beliefs), one of the two sons of the Prophet Muhammad's daughter Fatima. Hasan and Hosein were the sole (only) surviving male descendants of the Prophet. The Persians claim that during Muhammad's farewell pilgrimage to Mecca, the archangel Gabriel appeared to him and instructed him to name Ali as his successor, and that on his way back to Medina, he did so.

After the deaths of the Caliphs Umar and Uthman (who both died violently by assassination), Ali was old enough to become the successor, the fourth Caliph. However, there was rivalry between him and the governor of Syria, who also wanted to be the Caliph. Ali was killed in 661 by a crowd which blamed him for the death of the previous Caliph, Uthman.

Who would be the next Caliph? For a short while, the Caliphate passed to Ali's elder son, Hasan, who soon abdicated (turned over his power to someone else) in favor of Mu'awia, the governor of Syria. Hasan retired to Medina, where about 669 he was poisoned by one of his wives. So Mu'awia was Caliph for about 18 years.

Mu'awia died in 680. Again the question of the next Caliph arose. Some people wanted Ali's second son Hosein, who also lived in Medina. They said Hosein was the rightful leader of Islam because he was related to the Prophet Muhammad. Others wanted Mu'awia's son Yezid.

Yezid took steps to secure his own succession (taking over as the next ruler). When Hosein was on his way to take over the leadership of Islam, a large army of Yezid's soldiers surrounded him. Hosein refused to surrender. After a heroic resistance of two days, Hosein alone remained alive. At nightfall, he was shot in the mouth by an arrow while attempting to get water from the Euphrates River. His sister rushed out from her tent and begged the Syrians to spare Hosein, the grandson of the Prophet. But Yezid's generals answered by setting the camp on fire and striking down Hosein with thirty-three swords and lances. Hosein's head was then cut off. The victorious general carried this bloody trophy, along with the women and children of Hosein's family, to Damascus. The cruel Caliph Yezid further mutilated (beat and poked at) the head of Hosein until he was told by an old man, "I have often seen the lips of the Prophet kiss that head of his grandson."

These are the events that the Persians and other Shi'ite Muslims commemorate (honor the memory of someone) Hosein during the month of Moharrem. It is for them a month of mourning during which they wear black and display signs of grief. The Persians and other Shi'a Muslims deny (are against, protest against) the validity of the Caliphate of Mu'awia's family (the Umayyad dynasty), and do not recognize the first three Caliphs. To them, only the descendants of the Prophet Muhammad deserve to lead the Muslim people as Caliph.

The play reenacts the tragedy of the heroic campers before they were slaughtered. From the roof of a building, Dwight observed a company of men, bare headed and shirtless, beating their chests in unison (at the same time) as they marched into the square chanting "Hosein-ah!" This procession (parade of people) proceeded to a square decorated with banners, a colorful flag with a hand of brass at the end of a tall staff (representing the Holy Family of Islam), a tent, and other stage areas. Also entering the square were a larger group of participants from the party of Hosein on horseback richly decorated, and a small caravan of camels. Next came two rows of men in white, also bare headed like the chest-beaters. The white represented the shroud worn by Hosein, and they were streaked scarlet with their own blood.

They walked sideways in two rows, holding the belt of the person moving in line before them, and in their right hands they held a sword and slashed their own heads. "A few of them carried babies in their arms, whose little heads they had scratched in one or two places to "let out" the blood of the martyred Hosein. Such wounds, the Persians say, are not as other wounds; for the Prophet miraculously heals them. The play, with its battle, burning of the tent, and taking of Hosein's head, was then acted out. The crowd of spectators burst into sobs, shedding tears, tearing hair, and beating chests in grief over the Family of the Tent.

Photo of Ashura pageant in West Beruit, Lebanon, copyright, Francoise du Mulder/CORBIS.

Dwight says, "This was at once a religious and dramatic performance, in a land where other dramatic performances do not exist."