The Ashura day, the 10th of Muharram, was commemorated in various parts of the country under restrictions by the Taliban but with calls for unity.
The day is to commemorate the death of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, who was killed in the Battle of Karbala in 680 A.D.
Under the former government, Ashura was observed as a public holiday. Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban have removed the day from the national calendar, but mourning gatherings have continued with varying degrees of restriction.
In Afghanistan, mourning rituals began at the start of Muharram and culminated Sunday with processions, recitations, and ceremonies in mosques and community halls.
In Kabul, some senior Taliban officials attended mourning gatherings, where they called for Islamic unity despite deep sectarian differences. Shahabuddin Delawar, the head of the Afghan Red Crescent under Taliban administration, emphasized the importance of solidarity among Muslims. “Divisions among sects serve no one in Islam,” he said.
In Shiite-majority neighborhoods and provinces, worshipers engaged in traditional rites such as chest-beating, poetry recitation, and sermons in remembrance of Imam Hussein and his 72 companions who were killed in Karbala by the forces of the Umayyad caliph Yazid.
Historically, Muharram ceremonies in Afghanistan have been marked by expressions of religious unity, with Sunnis and Shiites often participating side by side. Despite political changes, many Afghans have continued to view the occasion as a symbol of shared faith and remembrance.
