Local Time in Sinah, Iraq

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Muharram is the first month of the Islamic calendar and one of the four sacred months in Islam. The name Muharram means “forbidden” or “sacred,” referring to the prohibition of warfare during the sacred months. Muharram is particularly significant in Shia Islam because it commemorates the Battle of Karbala in 680 CE, during which Husayn, the grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the third Shia Imam, was brutally killed along with many members of his family and companions by the Umayyad caliph Yazid. The battle took place on 10 Muharram, known as Ashura, and became one of the defining events in religious memory. For Shia Muslims, the first ten days of Muharram are a period of mourning and remembrance for Husayn and the other martyrs of Karbala.