Greatest ritual of the day of Ashura, Tweareej. Historical glimpse

Tweareej procession is the greatest Husseinain procession the world over. It begins on the tenth day of Moharram, the day of Ashura – hundreds of thousands of people firstly come from a district named Teareej until they reach the entry of Kerbala City from the East side and they run towards the Imam Hussein Holy Shrine and then to the El-Abbas Holy Shrine right after the noon prayer. The distance the run is approximately two kilometers. They begin to run from the East side of Kerbala Holy City.

A group of the nobility lead that great procession. When they run, the reiterate shouts about the Imam Hussein, his brother El-Abbas, and his family (Peace be upon them). Some of the most common shouts they usually reiterate are: “By Allah, we shall never forget Hussein” and “O’ Hussein”.

During the run towards the Imam Hussein and El-Abbas Holy Shrines, people mourn, wale, and hit their heads with their hands. There is a story about one of the greatest scholars in Iraq, who’s the founder of Tweareej procession. His name is Sayed Mehdi Behrul Uloom, once he attended the procession as usual and was getting ready to run, and suddenly, Sayed Mehdi took off his turban and his cloak and got into the procession hitting his chest and waling so loudly. People were so surprised. When everything was over, people asked him why he did that. He answered, “Never blame or blame any scholar, because I saw the Awaited Imam El-Mehdi (May Allah hasten his reappearance) in the middle of the procession bare-headed, bare-foot, hitting his head, and mourning for the martyrdom of his grandfather Imam Hussein (PBUH).”