PHOTOS: Iraq's Shia mark Ashura amid COVID-19

This year’s Ashura saw a dramatic fall in the number of visitors due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Halgurd Sherwani 2020/08/30 09:22

middle east Iraq Ashura Karbala Imam Hussien

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Thousands of Shia Muslims gathered on Sunday to commemorate Ashura in Iraq's Karbala, with many wearing masks in efforts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease, which continues to infect thousands across the country every day.

Iraqi Shia Muslims take part in a mourning ritual on the tenth day of the month of Muharram which marks the peak of Ashura, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, in the holy city of Karbala, August 30, 2020. (Photo: Ahmad al-Rubaye/AFP)

Ashura marks one of the most critical events in Shia Islamic tradition across the world, and particularly Iraq, which houses the holiest of the religious sect's shrines. The tenth day of the first Islamic month of Muharram is known as Ashura, the date of the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD in which the grandson of Prophet Mohammad, Hussien, was killed.

Shia Muslim worshippers, wearing protective face masks, attend a mourning ritual to commemorate martyrdom of Prophet Mohammad's grandson Imam Hussein during the Islamic month of Muharram in his shrine in Iraq's central holy shrine city of Karbala. August 29, 2020. (Photo: Ahmad al-Rubaye/AFP)

The burial site of Hussien is in the southern Iraqi city of Karbala, which millions of Shia pilgrims visit annually. This year’s Ashura, however, saw a dramatic fall in the number of visitors due to the coronavirus pandemic.

To mitigate the risks of transmission during the processions, shrine officials and health authorities applied protective measures such as body temperature screenings and mask distributions. However, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned of large gatherings that it identified as “super transmission events,” urging Iraq to end further outbreaks.

A worker distributes face masks amid the COVID-19 pandemic as Shia Muslim worshippers gather at the Imam al-Abbas Shrine to commemorate the martyrdom of Prophet Mohammad's grandson Imam Hussein, during the Islamic month of Muharram in Iraq's central holy city of Karbala. (Photo: Ahmad al-Rubaye/AFP)

Despite the protective measures taken to reduce the risks, transmission rates are still highly likely amid apparent difficulties maintaining social distancing due to overcrowdedness, with most attendees praying shoulder-to-shoulder.

A Shia Muslim worshipper holds a flagellum bearing the name "Karbala" in Arabic in his hand while standing with others as part of a mourning ritual to commemorate martyrdom of Prophet Mohammad's grandson Imam Hussein during the Islamic month of Muharram in the shrine of Imam Hussein in Iraq's central holy shrine city of Karbala. August 28, 2020. (Photo: Ahmad al-Rubaye/AFP)

Iraq has recently been recording between three and four thousand cases daily. Karbala provincial authorities locked down the region to prevent entrance to non-Karbalayis after recording 336 infections on August 21.

Editing by Khrush Najari