SHAFAQNA- Mourning rituals for the martyrdom of Imam Hussain (AS) are held in Niger. Members of the minority Shia community attended the ritual in Niamey, the capital of the African country. They recited elegies and beat their chest in memory of Imam Hussein (AS) and his faithful companions. A large number of Shia men, women, youths, elders and children took part in the Ashura mourning ceremony and rally.
Addressing the event was Shia cleric Sheikh Saleh Ahmed Lazar, who called on the Muslim world to unite against the Zionist regime that has been committing atrocities against the Palestinian nation.
Shia Muslims, and others in different parts of the world, hold ceremonies every year in Muharram, the first month in the lunar Hijri calendar, to mourn the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussain (AS) and his companions.
The third Shia Imam (AS) and a small group of his followers and family members were martyred by the tyrant of his time – Yazid Bin Muawiya, in the battle of Karbala on Ashura in the year 680 AD.
The Republic of the Niger is a landlocked country in West Africa. Islam in Niger accounts for the vast majority of the nation’s religious adherents. The faith is practiced by at least 99% of the population. Most of them are Sunni Muslims and there is also a Shia minority population.
Source: IQNA