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GreekReporter.comGreeceAshura Festival in Athens Climaxes with Bloody Self-Flagellation

Ashura Festival in Athens Climaxes with Bloody Self-Flagellation


Hundreds of Shia Muslims gathered in Piraeus, south of Athens, to mark the day of Ashura, the tenth day of in the Islamic calendar.
The ritual involved self-flagellation, hitting oneself with a whip as part of a religious ritual, as is common in many Muslim countries.
Believers in Greece slashed themselves and lashed their backs as part of a rite that takes place every year.
Some Shia leaders and groups discourage the bloodletting, saying it creates a backward and negative image of Shia Muslims. Such leaders encourage people to donate blood
The day of Ashura is marked by Muslims as a whole, but for Shia Muslims it is a major religious commemoration of the martyrdom at Karbala of Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.

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