TUESDAY August 8, 2023: 'MUHARRAM: Sacred Month' by award winning, ZUMA Press photo-journalists Rouzbeh Fouladi and Van Kurtz: Muharram, the first month of the Muslim calendar, begins on July 19, which marks the start of the new Islamic year. This sacred month is also known as the Hijri and the 'Month of Allah' and holds great significance for Muslims. Muharram commemorates the death of Prophet Muhammed's grandson, Hussein Ibn Ali, who was brutally martyred during the Battle of Karbala on the tenth day of Muharram, known as the Day of Ashura. Welcome to 'MUHARRAM: Sacred Month'
© zReportage.com Story of the Week #900: TUESDAY August 8, 2023: 'MUHARRAM: Sacred Month' by award winning, ZUMA Press photo-journalists Rouzbeh Fouladi and Van Kurtz: Muharram, the first month of the Muslim calendar, begins on July 19, which marks the start of the new Islamic year. This sacred month is also known as the Hijri and the 'Month of Allah' and holds great significance for Muslims. Muharram commemorates the death of Prophet Muhammed's grandson, Hussein Ibn Ali, who was brutally martyred during the Battle of Karbala on the tenth day of Muharram, known as the Day of Ashura. Welcome to 'MUHARRAM: Sacred Month'

Covered in black paint, an Iranian boy prepares to perform as a 'jinn' at a religious carnival marking the Muslim holy month of Muharram in Khomeyni Shahr. The 'jinn' are a race of spiritual beings in Islam and feature as characters in religious performances.
© Rouzbeh Fouladi/ZUMA Press Wire

All in black, two veiled Iranian women walk during a religious carnival marking Ashura on day eight of the Muslim holy month of Muharram in Khomeyni Shahr.
© Rouzbeh Fouladi/ZUMA Press Wire

With face painted black an Iranian boy prepares to perform as a 'jinn' at a religious carnival marking the Muslim holy month of Muharram in Khomeyni Shahr. The' jinn' are a race of spiritual beings in Islam and feature as characters in religious performances.
© Rouzbeh Fouladi/ZUMA Press Wire

Youths dressed in black perform as 'jinns' at a religious carnival marking the Muslim holy month of Muharram in Khomeyni Shahr, near the city of Isfahan. The 'jinn' are a race of spiritual beings in Islam and feature as characters in religious performances.
© Rouzbeh Fouladi/ZUMA Press Wire

An Iranian veiled girl adjusts her hijab near a horse during a religious carnival marking Ashura on day eight of Muslim holy month of Muharram in Khomeyni Shahr.
© Rouzbeh Fouladi/ZUMA Press Wire

Young Iranian schoolboys look on while standing behind religious flags with an image of Imam Hussein (R) during a religious carnival marking Ashura on the eighth day of the Muslim holy month of Muharram in Khomeyni Shahr which is also known as Sede, south of Tehran.
© Rouzbeh Fouladi/ZUMA Press Wire

An Iranian woman looks on during a religious carnival marking Ashura on day eight of Muslim holy month of Muharram in Khomeyni Shahr, south of Tehran.
© Rouzbeh Fouladi/ZUMA Press Wire

Iranian Shiite Muslim veiled women take part in a religious ceremony marking the Muslim holy month of Muharram in the lead-up to Ashura in Qurtan village, south of Tehran. Ashura is a day of commemoration in Islam.
© Rouzbeh Fouladi/ZUMA Press Wire

Iranian Shiite Muslims take part in a religious ceremony marking the Muslim holy month of Muharram in the lead-up to Ashura in Qurtan village. Ashura is a day of commemoration in Islam. It occurs annually on the 10th of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar.
© Rouzbeh Fouladi/ZUMA Press Wire

Veiled women take pictures with cellphones and watch the ''Taziyeh'' religious re-enactment on Ashura on the tenth day of the Muslim holy month of Muharram in the city of Khomeyni Shahr south of Tehran.
© Rouzbeh Fouladi/ZUMA Press Wire

Iranian Shiite Muslim veiled women take part in a religious ceremony marking the Muslim holy month of Muharram in the lead-up to Ashura. Among Shia Muslims, Ashura is observed through large demonstrations of mourning as it marks the death of Husayn ibn Ali (a grandson of Muhammad).
© Rouzbeh Fouladi/ZUMA Press Wire

A man in Zanjan carries a sheep to slaughter the day after the Day of Ashura, the 1384th anniversary of Imam Hussein's martyrdom. As a tradition, Shiite Muslims will slaughter the sheep, goats and calves they bring to the squares and cook for the commemoration ceremonies that will take place the next day.
© Van Kurtz/ZUMA Press Wire

Sheep's blood spilled on the ground during a religious ceremony marking the Muslim holy month of Muharram in the lead-up to Ashura in Qurtan village.
© Rouzbeh Fouladi/ZUMA Press Wire

Iranian Shia men receive a simple meal as a part of a religious ceremony marking the Muslim holy month of Muharram in the lead-up to Ashura. Ashura is a day of commemoration in Islam.
© Rouzbeh Fouladi/ZUMA Press Wire

A man, reacts at the Tasua commemoration, the day before Asura Day, the 1384th anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, and 72 of his companions in Karbala.
© Van Kurtz/ZUMA Press Wire

A young girl lights a candle to bring 'a light for Imam Hussein' on Tasua Day, the day before Ashura, the 1384th anniversary of Imam Hussein's martyrdom.
© Van Kurtz/ZUMA Press Wire

Shiite Muslims in Iran sing hymns in small groups called 'deste' at the Tasua commemoration, the day before Asura Day, the 1384th anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad.
© Van Kurtz/ZUMA Press Wire

Iranian performers wearing symbolic dresses as enemies of Imam Hussein wait to perform at a religious carnival marking Ashura on day eight of Muslim holy month of Muharram in Khomeyni Shahr.
© Rouzbeh Fouladi/ZUMA Press Wire

Iranian Shiite Muslims perform in the annual religious performance of 'Taazieh' which means comfort, condolence, or expression of grief. The Shia Islam ritual that reenacts the death of Hussein (the Islamic prophet Muhammad's grandson) and his male children and companions in a brutal massacre on the plains of Karbala in the year 680 AD.
© Rouzbeh Fouladi/ZUMA Press Wire

Iranian Shiite Muslims watch as men on horseback perform in the annual religious performance of Taazieh, a Shia Islam ritual that reenacts the death of Hussein (the Islamic prophet Muhammad's grandson) and his male children and companions in a brutal massacre on the plains of Karbala, Iraq in the year 680 AD.
© Rouzbeh Fouladi/ZUMA Press Wire

Iranian Shiite Muslims perform in the annual religious performance of Taazieh in Khomeyni Shahr, near the city of Isfahan.
© Rouzbeh Fouladi/ZUMA Press Wire

Children light candles bringing 'a light for Imam Hussein' on Tasua Day, the day before Ashura, the 1384th anniversary of Imam Hussein's martyrdom.
© Van Kurtz/ZUMA Press Wire

On the day after the Day of Ashura, the 1384th anniversary of Imam Hussein's martyrdom, men sing hymns in Zanjan Enghelab Square and beat themselves in a certain rhythm called 'sine vurmak.'
© Van Kurtz/ZUMA Press Wire

A car covered in mud and earth in Bostanabad, Iran, on the day of Ashura, the 1384th anniversary of Imam Hussein's martyrdom. Drawing on old burial traditions, men will cover themselves in mud as sign of grief over death of Prophet Mohammad's grandson.
© Van Kurtz/ZUMA Press Wire