Muharram; The month of mourning for the martyrdom of Imam Husayn.

 The Islamic New Year begins with the month of Muharram, one of the four holy months of Islam

Today is the New Year's Eve in the Islamic world, which falls on the first day of the month of Muharram, one of the four holy months of Islam. For Shiite Muslims, it marks the beginning of ten days of mourning and grief: in fact, Shiites begin today to prepare the ceremonies for the martyrdom of Imam Husayn, the grandson of the Prophet and the third Imam of the Shia, and his companions and family members in the plain of Karbala, in present-day Iraq.

He, followed by seventy-two brave warriors, opposed the caliphate of Yazid, the second ruler of the Umayyad dynasty, refusing to bow to him and choosing the path of revolt: he knew that neither he nor his companions would survive, in fact he released his men from any obligation towards him, yet he was not abandoned.

The actual commemoration begins on the 2nd of Muharram (of the lunar year) when Imam Husayn reached Karbala, and continues intensely until the 10th of the month, when the Imam and his warriors were martyred rather than subdued. The mourning period continues for the next forty days until it reaches Arbain, when pilgrims from all over the world flock to Iraq and Karbala in what is the most attended religious pilgrimage in the world.

During this period of mourning, Shia Muslims recall the tragedy of Karbala with narrations, plays, invocations and songs and other beneficial actions.