Middle East on Alert for Shi’ite Festival

Several countries in the Middle East are on high security alert to prevent sectarian violence over ‘Ashoura, a major event in the Muslim Shi’ite calendar.

Officials in Teheran said Iran has closed its borders with Iraq in order to control a large influx of pilgrims heading for the Iraqi Shi’ite city of Karbala. Authorities are trying to prevent passage of pilgrims carrying illegal documents.

Tension between Shi’ites and Sunnis is high, following Sunni accusations that Iran is trying to spread Shi’ite doctrine in the region.

Shi’ites are a minority in Islam, constituting less than 15% of the world’s Muslim population. However, they are a majority in Iran and in Iraq.

Since the ousting of Saddam Hussein, a Sunni Muslim, in 2003, ‘Ashoura has been used as a show of strength for the Shi’ites.  

Security in Iraq is tight this year after Sunni attacks on worshippers in 2004 killed more than 170 people.

Security forces are also on high alert in Pakistan, after at least 15 people were killed in an attack near a Shi’ite mosque in Peshawar, in northeastern Pakistan, on Saturday night.

Most of the casualties belonged to police and other security forces clearing the route for the Shi’ite religious procession. The timing of the attack, two days before the festival, raised speculation that the motive was sectarian.

Iran has the highest concentration of Shi’ites, with the majority of its 70 million-strong population adhering to this branch of Islam. About two-thirds of the Muslims in Iraq are Shi’ite, and there are large concentrations of Shi’ites in Bahrain (around 70%), Oman, the eastern province of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Pakistan and Lebanon.

The main bone of contention between Sunnis and Shi’ites is the issue of succession to the Prophet Muhammad, who supposedly died in 632 A.D. (C.E.).

A key event in Shi’ite history is known as the Battle of Karbala. Determined to defend his legitimate rights to the throne, Hussein, the son of Muhammad’s son-in-law and cousin ‘Ali, was killed in a battle in 680 A.D. (C.E.).

The martyrdom of the prophet’s descendent and the son of ‘Ali struck a chord with ‘Ali’s supporters.

Shi’ites mark this event in their calendar as the ‘Ashoura. Much of the Shi’ite iconography revolves around this event, which is commemorated annually with much fervor, passion and drama.