Muharram in Türkiye; From the celebration of 300,000 people to Zainabiyah in Istanbul

Mehr News Agency, group Elnaz Rahmatnejad: Love of Ahl al-Bayt ( (peace be upon him) is of great importance among Turkish Muslims. In this country, during the month of Muharram, the lovers of the family of the Prophet (PBUH) mourn Imam Hussain (PBUH), his pure family and 72 noble companions in different ways. Turkish Muslims emphasize on keeping alive the event of Karbala and the day of Ashura, and this is recognized as a duty and necessity among them.

Turkey’s Shiite citizens live in the cities of Istanbul, Ankara, Bursa and Izmir in border provinces such as Aghdir and Aghdir; In this sense, to see and participate in the mourning ceremony in Türkiye, you must be present in these cities. Some of the Sunnis are also active in this ritual.

Cooking food, covering the streets with black, erecting takayeh in big markets, performing Ta’ziyeh, breast-beating and chain-beating along with lamentation and prayer are performed in the mentioned country, such as Iran. to be Sometimes mourners from Iran are invited to sing prayers. The most mourning chairs can be seen in the Istanbul spice market. At the same time as Tasu’a and Ashura days, large groups of breaststrokers gather in Skudore Square in Istanbul. The holding of Ta’zia and Ashura ceremonies in the Ottoman style in the Hagia Sophia mosque is of interest to Hosseini mourners.

Ahlul Sunnats of Turkey do not have religious ceremonies and recitations, but religious speakers, preachers and scholars usually mention this incident in the first decade of Muharram and emphasize the authenticity of Imam Hussain (AS) in They testify to the uprising of Ashura and curse Yazid and his family.

Iranian embassies and consulates in Turkey have long been known as the founders of mourning ceremonies.

At the same time with the arrival of Muharram 1446, we started to introduce mourning habits and customs in the Islamic world.

The first to fourth part of this report, which is dedicated to mourning habits and customs in Lebanon, Pakistan, Iraq and Kuwait, can be read and reviewed from the following links:

* “Mahram in Lebanon; from ceremony prayer Party Allah In Dahiya to recitation in Nabatieh”

* “Mahram in Pakistan; Fromthe symbolic ceremony “Zul-Janah” to Ship “Ship Salvation”

* “Moharram Hosseini’s protest in Iraq; From the ceremony of changing the flag to the “Rakzah Towerej”“

* “Mahram in Kuwait; From the presence of the Sunnis next to the Shiites to the restrictions of mourning”

Next, we read the fifth part of this case, which deals with mourning customs and traditions in Turkey;

Turkish people’s view of Ashura event

Tsunan people in Turkey believe that in the month of Muharram, in addition to the event of Ashura in 61 AH, important events in the history of Abrahamic religions also happened. Stopping of Noah’s ship on land, destruction of idols in the city of Ur by Abraham, meeting of Jacob with Joseph, healing of Job’s illness, Jonah coming out of the belly of a fish, passing of Moses The Red Sea is one of the events that Turkish Sunnis believe happened on the 10th of Muharram.

After the Justice and Development Party came to power in Turkey in the 2000s, the Organization of Religious Affairs of Turkey, which is the only official authority for dealing with religious affairs in Turkey, every year on the day of Ashura, a message in published the case of this day and refers to the events mentioned on this day.

wearing a shroud

Turkey’s Shiites, especially Jafari Shiites, celebrate Muharram and Ashura days like Iran. Various ceremonies of mourning, breast-beating and reciting are held in this month, especially on the day of Ashura, in the provinces adjacent to the borders of the Islamic Republic of Iran, such as Ighdir, Aghiri and Arzorom, even in some cases, due to the geographical proximity to Iran, Iranian mourners and mourners are invited to these areas.

A large number of Turkish Shiites, like Iranians, wear black clothes from the first to the tenth of Muharram. In some areas of this country, Shiites wear a white shirt over their black clothes, which is reminiscent of the shroud of martyrdom. They also tie green and red cloth strips on the forehead.

Establishing a photo exhibition of Shiite mourning

Photo exhibition of Shiite mourning is also organized by Jafari Shiite Association of Turkey and Istanbul Municipality. The visitors of this photo exhibition write their views, heart notes, literary texts and wishes about Imam Hussain (AS) and the Ashura incident in memorial notebooks, and every year these notebooks are published in the form of a book with the title “Sad leaves from Ashura”. and it is published.

Taziya ceremony with 300 thousand spectators

Ashura day ceremony is the most important part of Muharram programs in Halkali Square of Istanbul, the first Ashura ceremony in this area was held by Salahuddin Ozgunduz and Hamid Turan in 1982 and every year on The glory of this ceremony has increased. In 1991, the official news agency of Turkey reflected the news of this ceremony for the first time and it was widely reflected in the public opinion of Turkey.

In 2005, an allegorical ceremony of the Karbala incident (Taziyah) was recorded in the Guinness Book of Records with 300,000 spectators. The largest amateur theater staff with 840 people and the largest performance stage in 2,500 square meters is the dirt and sand stage of Halkali square. Also, the said ceremony has been chosen by the “UNESCO” organization as one of the biggest mourning ceremonies for Hosseini (AS) in the world. In the past years, international congresses were also held on the sidelines of this ceremony with the presence of thinkers from different countries of the world. Due to the knowledge of the public opinion of the Turkish people about this ceremony, Turkish politicians have also paid special attention to the mentioned ceremony and in the past years the president, prime minister, parliament speaker and ministers also participated in this magnificent ceremony.

Zinbiye Istanbul; The gathering place of Shias

Zinbiye Istanbul is a cultural and religious center in Istanbul, Turkey, which hosts Shiites and lovers of Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) with a beautiful structure designed during the days of Muharram, especially the day of Ashura. For many years, on the day of Ashura, more than 300,000 people of Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) and lovers of Imam Hussain (a.s.) gather around this complex and hold a large-scale mourning ceremony.

Shiites of all countries and Iranians living in Istanbul perform Ashura Day mourning ceremony in Zainabiyah with a special order and order, so that it gets the attention of Turkish media. Mourning in Zainabiye Square in Istanbul with the presence of 300,000 people has been registered as a model mourning ceremony in UNESCO. Also, the call to prayer of the late Mozenzadeh is particularly popular among the people of Istanbul.

It can be said that the love of Ahl al-Bayt among the people of Turkey is tangibly visible, and this issue is more visible during the month of Muharram with the holding of mourning ceremonies. In this month, Turkish people try to show their love and devotion to Imam Hussain (a.s.) more than ever by participating in mourning ceremonies and recitations.