Happy Ashura Festival Everyone!

I mean seriously, who are we to judge? Aren't all cultures and religions equally valid?

This day is anniversary of the battle of Karbala which resulted in martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of Prophet Mohammad, by the army of Umayyad caliph,Yazid I. Yazid was the son of Muawiyah who was appointed governor of Syria by Umer, the second caliph of Sunnis. Shias believe the Battle of Karbala was between the forces of good and evil. Imam Hussain represented good while Yazid represented evil starting from Abu Bakr down to his father Muawiyah.
This day is of particular significance to Shi'a Muslims, who consider Husayn the third Imam and a rightful successor of the Prophet Muhammad. Many Shi'a make pilgrimages on Ashura to the Mashhad al-Husayn, the shrine in Karbala, Iraq that is traditionally held to be Husayn's tomb. Shi'as also express mourning by thumping their chests and crying after listening to speeches on how Husayn and his family were martyred. This is intended to connect them with Husayn's suffering and death. Husayn's martyrdom is widely interpreted by Shi'a as a symbol of the struggle.






Meanwhile in other news: Lovers stoned to death in Pakistani village: About 4,000 people, mostly women, have been killed in deeply conservative rural Pakistan in recent years in the name of protecting family honour when there are allegations of an illicit sexual relationship.