Word: muharram
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...With his passing, the Green movement loses a spiritual mentor. "His death is certainly a blow to the opposition, but it shouldn't dramatically affect their fortunes," said Sadjadpour. "It could also prove a catalyst for more protests, especially given the fact that he died during Muharram [a Shi'ite holy month that celebrates martyrdom]." Montazeri is to be buried Monday, and mourned a week later in a ritual that coincides with Ashura - the holiest Shi'ite day of mourning marking the martyrdom of Hossein, grandson of the prophet Mohammed's grandson, in the fight against injustice. Montazeri's passing...
...addition, the Islamic month of Muharram begins on Dec. 18 this year, kicking off 10 days of ceremonies in Shi'ite Islam that culminate on the holy day of Ashura, when the martyrdom of Hussain, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, is mourned. Public events occur in every city, town and village in Iran, and as with other religious holidays that have occurred since June, the opposition is likely to encourage supporters to come out and defy the regime. To prevent this, the conservatives who control the government may try to portray the protesters as desecraters of the legacy of Khomeini...
...still real threats. "There are only three days between the local election and the 40th of Ashura [a holy day for Shi'ites]. Between now and the election, they will benefit from this," says al-Rubeiy. "I expect the religious parties to use sermons through [the holy month of] Muharram. They could spread very effective rumors that glorify...
...Today's bombing took place on the eve of Muharram, the Islamic month of mourning, and it could augur a new series of such attacks. Muharram has historically been associated with increased violence between the country's Sunni Muslims and its Shi'ite minority. While Muharram is important to both sects, it is particularly revered by Shias who stage elaborate processions mourning the death of the prophet Mohammad's grandson in battle - the very event that eventually led to the central schism of Islam. In 2005 a bomb in a Shi'ite shrine in southwestern Pakistan killed 50. Already sectarian...
When Bazargan resigned to protest the capture of the hostages, the Ayatullah made the Revolutionary Council the government in name as well as fact. Then, during the holy month known as Muharram, with popular emotion at a frenzied height as a result of the confrontation with the U.S., Khomeini expertly managed a vote on a new constitution that turned Iran into a theocracy. Approved overwhelmingly in a Dec. 2-3 referendum, the constitution provided for an elected President and parliament, but placed above them a "guardian council" of devout Muslims to make sure that nothing the elected bodies do violates...