It is like rigging the rules of a game to then celebrate its victory. Martyrdom is not new; from Husayn ibn Ali to Saint Thomas, culture has often found ways of making loss more meaningful than ...

Among some Shia Muslim communities, the month of Muharram commemorates the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad. Participants engage in self-flagellation, using chains or ...

Shia Muslims in other parts of the world spend the day mourning – some even to the extent of flogging themselves – to commemorate the martyrdom of Hussein ibn Ali. Also on the 10 th day of Muharram, ...