Pakistan: Shiite Muslim mourners self-flagellate during Muharram procession

Rana Sajid Hussain

Pakistani Shiite Muslim mourners self-flagellate during a Muharram procession on the ninth day of Ashura in Lahore. Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, is a month of mourning for Shiites in remembrance. Ashura is a period of mourning in remembrance of the seventh-century martyrdom of Prophet Mohammad's grandson Imam Hussein, who was killed in the battle of Karbala in modern-day Iraq, in 680 AD.