Religion:Eid-e-Shuja'
Eid-e-Shuja' ("Feast of the Brave One") or Omar Koshan (Persian: عمرکشان "Celebration of killing Omar"), also known as Eid al-Zahra ("Feast of Zahra"), is the ninth day of the month of Rabi Al-Awwal in the Islamic-Hijri calendar and a ritual celebration observed by some Twelver Shi‘a Muslims. It marks the assassination of Omar ibn al-Khattab[1][2] by Piruz Nahavandi. The ritual was established by Safavid king Ismail I during the Safavid conversion of Iran to Shia Islam.[citation needed]
Historically, the festival has celebrated the assassination of Omar[1] by Piruz Nahavandi (nicknamed Baba Shuja' al-din). A weak[2] hadith claims that Muhammad predicted 9 Rabi-ul-Awwal as "the day when the Pharaoh of the Ahl-ul-Bayt [meaning Omar] will be annihilated":[2][3] "He will usurp my children's inheritance [...] He will have the audacity to attack his Imam after me [...] I have asked Allah to give virtue to the day on which he perishes over all days."[2]
In The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776–1789), Edward Gibbon writes: "[Ali] has never been accused of prompting the assassin of Omar; though Persia indiscreetly celebrates the festival of that holy martyr."[4]
Competing meanings
In modern times, several competing meanings have attached to this festival's date.[3] The modern festival is generally referred to as Eid al-Zahra ("Feast of Zahra"), after the wife of Ali, held by Shi'a Muslims to be Muhammad's only daughter.
Birth of Muhammad
Muhammad's birthday is generally given as 12 or 17 Rabi-ul-Awwal,[3] but "some historians"[3] give it as 9 Rabi-ul-Awwal, or place 9 Rabi-ul-Awwal at the start of a weeklong celebration leading up to the birth date.
Beheading of Umar ibn Sa'ad
In modern times, the festival is often associated with the death of a different Omar, namely Umar ibn Sa'ad,[3] the commander of Yazid's army at the Battle of Karbala, in which Ali's son Husayn was killed. This Omar was beheaded on the orders of Mukhtar al-Thaqafi, about six years after the Battle of Karbala. The date of 9 Rabi-ul-Awwal 66 AH (686 CE) is said variously to be the date on which Umar was killed;[5] the date Umar's severed head reached Medina and was presented before Husayn's son, Imam Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin;[3] or the date Umar's head reached Ali's third son Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah.[5]
It is said that when Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin heard that Umar ibn Sa'ad was dead, he smiled for the first time since the death of his father.[3]
In South Asia, this date signals the closure of a long mourning season during which bright clothes, extravagant purchases and overt celebrations are all considered inappropriate. Pious Shias are now allowed to resume their less restricted lifestyles, following a tradition that holds that the Prophet's family itself shed its mourning garb on the ninth.[6]
Ascension of the Twelfth Imam
The same date is associated with the start of the reign of the Twelfth Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi,[3] upon the death of his father Hasan al-Askari, who passed away on 8 Rabi-ul-Awwal 260 AH (approximately 4 January 874).
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Elton L. Daniel; Ali Akbar Mahdi (2006). Culture and customs of Iran. Greenwood Press. p. 185. ISBN 0-313-32053-5. https://books.google.com/books?id=8ZIjyEi1pd8C&pg=PA185.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Sheikh Mohammad Saeed Bahmanpour (2017-11-29). "Is the so-called 'Eid-e-Zahra' fact or fiction?". http://www.askthesheikh.com/is-the-so-called-eid-e-zahra-fact-or-fiction/.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Akramulla Syed (2017-12-14). "Eid-E-Zehra or Eid-E-Shuja Celebration (Eid-E-Zahra)". http://www.ezsoftech.com/islamic/eidzehra.asp.
- ↑ Edward Gibbon (1781). "50. Discord of the Turks and Persians". The History Of The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire. III. https://www.ccel.org/g/gibbon/decline/volume2/chap50.htm#Discord.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Is it true that Imam Hussein’s assassin was killed on the ninth of Rabi’ul Awwal and his head was sent to Imam Sajjad (a.s.)?". https://www.islamquest.net/en/archive/en21745.
- ↑ Amy C. Bard (2010). "Turning Karbala Inside Out: Humor and Ritual Critique in South Asian Muharram Rites". Sacred Play: Ritual Levity and Humor in South Asian Religions. State University of New York.
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