scroll: From The Holy City Karbala and India-Pakistan Muharram and Taazia

(Original Caption) 7/21/1960-Karachi,Pakistan- Heroic feet carry this Moslem worshiper through a bed of glowing coals fanned by attendants at Karachi, Pakistan. During the Islamic month of Muharram, many members of the Shia sect endure the agony of walking through the searing coals as well as flailing themselves with chain whips. The self-punishment commemorates the prophet Mohammed's grandson, Hussain, who was martyred in the burning desert of Karbala 13 Centuries ago.

Shiite Muslims at the Kahraman Mosque lash themselves March 24, 2002 during a traditional ceremony on the 10th day of Muharram in Kabul, Afghanistan. The ceremony is held in honor of the death of Imam Hussain, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammad, killed during the ancient battle of Karbala in Iraq. Shia Muslims think the suffering from the lashing will help them atone for their sins. The Shias are 15% of the Afghan population. (Photo by Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images)

KARBALA, IRAQ- SEPTEMBER 26: Iraqi and Irani Shiite Muslims kiss the entrance gate of the Imam Hussein shrine September 26, 2002 in Karbala, Iraq, some 150 kilometers southwest of Baghdad. Hussein, one of the two sons of Imam Ali, the grandson of Islam's Prophet Mohammed, was killed in battle on the plains of Karbala near the Euphrates River in 680 A.D. in what is today's Iraq. The Karbala battle, part of a dispute over leadership of the faith that began following the prophet Mohammed's death nearly 50 years earlier, was a key event in Islam's split into the Sunni majority and minority Shiite branches. Hussein's death remains a powerful example of sacrifice to many Shiites, who make up about 10 percent of the world's estimated one billion Muslims. Hundreds of thousands of Muslims from around the world come to visit the shrine every year. (Photo by Salah Malkawi/Getty Images)

People walk in the street May 2, 1997 in Tikrit, Iraq. Since the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq in August 1990, embargoes have prevented most of the population from buying food and imported products and hospitals are unable to provide proper care to their patients because they lack drugs and equipment. (Photo by Scott Peterson/Liaison)

A portrait of Saddam Hussein is on display May 2, 1997 in Iraq. Since the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq in August 1990, embargoes have prevented most of the population from buying food and imported products and hospitals are unable to provide proper care to their patients because they lack drugs and equipment. (Photo by Scott

301907 34: Young girls participate in the rally for Saddam Hussein''s 60th birthday May 2, 1997 in Karbala, Iraq. Since the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq in August 1990, embargoes have prevented most of the population from buying food and imported products and hospitals are unable to provide proper care to their patients because they lack drugs and equipment. (Photo by Scott Peterson/Liaison)

Muslim women sit near the Karbala Mosque May 2, 1997 in Karbala, Iraq. Since the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq in August 1990, embargoes have prevented most of the population from buying food and imported products and hospitals are unable to provide proper care to their patients because they lack drugs and equipment. (Photo by Scott Peterson/Liaison)

People walk near Karbala Mosque May 2, 1997 in Karbala, Iraq. Since the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq in August 1990, embargoes have prevented most of the population from buying food and imported products and hospitals are unable to provide proper care to their patients because they lack drugs and equipment. (Photo by Scott Peterson/Liaison)

A design on brick is on display May 2, 1997 in Iraq. Since the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq in August 1990, embargoes have prevented most of the population from buying food and imported products and hospitals are unable to provide proper care to their patients because they lack drugs and equipment. (Photo by Scott Peterson/Liaison

Pictures of Imam Hussein lie for sale in front of the mosque that bears his name April 21, 2003, in Karbala, Iraq. Millions of Shia Muslims have flocked to the holy city of Karbala for a holiday week that commemorates the end of the mourning period for the death of Imam Hussein. Crawling to the city, sometimes for dozens of miles, is a way to show homage and respect to the saint. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

A door warder in the Imam Hussein mosque smiles April 21, 2003, in Karbala, Iraq. Millions of Shia Muslims have flocked to the holy city of Karbala for a holiday week that commemorates the end of the mourning period for the death of Imam Hussein. The procession had been banned for years under the reign of Saddam Hussein, a Sunni Muslim. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

An Iraqi Shiite Muslim man lies exhausted as he is given water by friends in front of the Imam Hussein mosque April 21, 2003, in Karbala, Iraq. Millions of Shia Muslims have flocked to the holy city of Karbala for a holiday week that commemorates the end of the mourning period for the death of Imam Hussein. Crawling to the city, sometimes for dozens of miles, is a way to show homage and respect to the saint. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

Shiite Muslims carry the symbolic coffin of assassinated Shiite Muslim Ayatollah Mohammad Baqer al-Hakim (poster) in the southern Iraqi city of Karbala, 110 kms from Baghdad 01 September 2003. Thousands of Iraqis continued to pay their respects to slain Muslim Shiite leader al-Hakim as the funeral procession for the revered cleric entered its second day. Mourners from across Iraq and neighbouring Iran, also a mostly Shiite nation, began filing into the Al-Abbas shrine in the holy city of Karbala shortly after dawn to pay their final respects. AFP PHOTO/Karim SABIH (Photo credit should read KARIM SAHIB/AFP/Getty Images)

KARBALA, IRAQ - APRIL 21: Muslim Shias make their way on a road for the annual pilgrimage, which had been banned by Saddam Hussein for the last twenty-five years, to the holy city of Karbala to pray at the holy shrines of Abbas and Hussein April 21, 2003 in Karbala, Iraq. The city of Karbala, 80 km southwest of Baghdad, was strongly influenced by the Persians, replaced Isfahan as the main center of Shia scholarship and maintained strong links with Iran. The Kammuna family, related to the Shahs, were custodians of the shrines and practically ran the city until the time of the British mandate. The control of the city passed to seven mukhtars who received their salary from the municipality until they were succeeded by Iraqi government employees. The piety and unshakeable belief of the Muslims who visit the sanctuaries are illustrated by heart-rending acts of devotion such as kissing the grails that surround the shrines. (Photo by Marco Di Lauro/Getty Images)

KARBALA, IRAQ - APRIL 21: A Muslim Shia girl covers her face at Abbas Mosque for the annual pilgrimage, which had been banned by Saddam Hussein for the last twenty-five years, to the holy city of Karbala to pray at the holy shrines of Abbas and Hussein April 21, 2003 in Karbala, Iraq. The city of Karbala, 80 km southwest of Baghdad, was strongly influenced by the Persians, replaced Isfahan as the main center of Shia scholarship and maintained strong links with Iran. The Kammuna family, related to the Shahs, were custodians of the shrines and practically ran the city until the time of the British mandate. The control of the city passed to seven mukhtars who received their salary from the municipality until they were succeeded by Iraqi government employees. The piety and unshakeable belief of the Muslims who visit the sanctuaries are illustrated by heart-rending acts of devotion such as kissing the grails that surround the shrines. (Photo by Marco Di Lauro/Getty Images)

KARBALA, IRAQ - APRIL 21: Under the shadow of the Mosque of Imam Abbas, hundreds of thousands of Muslim Shias make their entrance into one of Iraq's holiest cities in a religious pilgrimage April 21, 2003 to Karbala, Iraq. In Iraq, Muslims are either Sunnis or Shias. Shias believe that descendants of the Prophet Mohammed should lead the government while Sunnis believe leadership should be selected from the entire community at large. Estimates of the number of Shias vary from 54 percent to 70 percent of the Iraqi population. Iraqi Shi'ite Muslims traveled to the holy city of Karbala to commemorate the 40th day after the death of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, in 680 AD. The ceremony, which may include public voluntary amputations, was banned under ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, a Sunni. (Photo by Oleg Nikishin/Getty Images)

KARBALA, IRAQ - APRIL 21: Crowds of Muslim Shias make a religious pilgrimage by walking to and around the mosques of Imam Abbas and Imam Hussein April 21, 2003 in Karbala, Iraq. In Iraq, Muslims are either Sunnis or Shias. Shias believe that descendants of the Prophet Mohammed should lead the government while Sunnis believe leadership should be selected from the entire community at large. Estimates of the number of Shias vary from 54 percent to 70 percent of the Iraqi population. Iraqi Shi'ite Muslims traveled to the holy city of Karbala to commemorate the 40th day after the death of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, in 680 AD. The ceremony, which may include public voluntary amputations, was banned under ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, a Sunni. (Photo by Oleg Nikishin/Getty Images)

KARBALA, IRAQ - APRIL 21: Iraqi men beat their chests and heads in a public display of flagellation as crowds of Muslim Shias make a religious pilgrimage by walking to and around the mosques of Imam Abbas and Imam Hussein April 21, 2003 in Karbala, Iraq. In Iraq, Muslims are either Sunnis or Shias. Shias believe that descendants of the Prophet Mohammed should lead the government while Sunnis believe leadership should be selected from the entire community at large. Estimates of the number of Shias vary from 54 percent to 70 percent of the Iraqi population. Iraqi Shi'ite Muslims traveled to the holy city of Karbala to commemorate the 40th day after the death of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, in 680 AD. The ceremony, which may include public voluntary amputations, was banned under ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, a Sunni. (Photo by Oleg Nikishin/Getty Images)

KARBALA, IRAQ - MARCH 15: Iraqi troops and ruling Baath Party officials watch over a demonstration against an American-led war in Iraq, and in favor of the regime of Saddam Hussein March 15, 2003 in the holy Shiite city of Karbala, Iraq. Karbala was a site of a Shiite uprising in southern Iraq in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War. Shia Muslims in Iraq, though the majority of the population, have long been repressed by the regime. (Photo by Scott Peterson/Getty Images)

AL-MUNZIRI, IRAQ: Iraqis pass a mural showing President Saddam Hussein praying in front of Iraq's two main Shiite Muslim mosques of Karbala near the Iraqi-Iranian border point of al-Munziri, 190 kms northeast of Baghdad, 09 April 2000. Hundreds of Iranian pilgrims cross into Iraq every day to visit Shiite holy sites in the south of the country. Shiites make up the majority of Iraq's predominantly Muslim population, but the Iraqi president is a Sunni Muslim. (Photo credit should read KARIM SAHIB/AFP/Getty Images)

KERBALA, IRAQ: Iraqi shiites muslims walk around the old city of Karbala (100 km south Baghdad ) on their way to the tomb of Imam Hussein, an important part of their pilgrimage. President Saddam Hussein has decided to allow in Iranian for pilgrimages to Shiite Moslems sites in Iraq, for the first time since the two countries went to war in 1980, state radio announced 18 August. The towns of Najaf and Karbala are the holiest Shiite sites in Islam and house the shrines of the imams Ali and Hussein (seen in the background). (Photo credit should read KARIM SAHIB/AFP/Getty Images)

IRAQ - CIRCA 1991: Shiite family in the ruins of their house. Karbala (Iraq), october 1991. (Photo by Francoise De Mulder/Roger Viollet/Getty Images)

IRAQ - CIRCA 1991: Shiite tradeswomen under Saddam Husayn's portrait. Karbala (Iraq), november, 1991. FDM-817-5. (Photo by Francoise De Mulder/Roger Viollet/Getty Images)

IRAQ - CIRCA 1991: Shiite woman under Saddam Husayn's portrait. Karbala (Iraq), april, 1991. FDM-826-16. (Photo by Francoise De Mulder/Roger Viollet/Getty Images

IRAQ - CIRCA 1991: Karbala (Iraq). Mosque al-Husayn during its restoration, after bombardments of the gulf war, october 1991. (Photo by Francoise De Mulder/Roger Viollet/Getty Images)

IRAQ - CIRCA 1991: Shiite family in Karbala ruins (Iraq), in April, 1991. FDM-830-16. (Photo by Francoise De Mulder/Roger Viollet/Getty Images)

IRAQ - CIRCA 1991: Karbala ( Iraq). The Restoration of the dome of the mosque al-Husayn, touched by bombardments, in October, 1991. FDM-828-18. (Photo by Francoise De Mulder/Roger Viollet/Getty Images

IRAQ - CIRCA 1991: Karbala ( Iraq). Mosque al-Husayn, in October, 1991. FDM-828-19. (Photo by Francoise De Mulder/Roger Viollet/Getty Images)

IRAQ - CIRCA 1991: Karbala (Iraq). Entry of the mosque Abbas (Xth century), shiite sanctuary, guarded by soldiers, april 1991. (Photo by Francoise De Mulder/Roger Viollet/Getty Images

IRAQ - CIRCA 1991: Karbala ( Iraq). Mosque al-Husayn damaged by bombardments, in April, 1991. FDM-837-13. (Photo by Francoise De Mulder/Roger Viollet/Getty Images)

IRAQ - CIRCA 1991: Portrait of Saddam Husayn, Iraqi statesman. Karbala (Iraq), april 1991. (Photo by Francoise De Mulder/Roger Viollet/Getty Images)

Travel, Lucknow, India, Circa 1900's, The Muharram Festival, The annual procession passing through the crowded streets, In the foreground, decorated tazias (bamboo and paper replicas of the martyr's tomb), embellished with gilt , The ceremony mourns the Karbala tragedy when Imam Hussain, grandson of Prophet Muhammad, was martyred (Photo by Popperfoto/Getty Images)

Shi'a clergymen inside Imam Hussein's shrine in Karbala days before the Shi'a uprising in the 1991 Gulf War in Iraq, 24th February 1991. The Shi'a population were heavily crushed by Saddam Hussein later in March, when the US turned a blind eye to them and Kurds in the north. (Photo by Kaveh Kazemi/Getty Images)

The Quranic calligraphy on the golden door at the entrance of Imam Hussein's shrine in Karbala, Iraq, 24th February 1991. (Photo by Kaveh Kazemi/Getty Images)

An Iraqi boy amongst the pilgrims inside Imam Hussein's shrine in Karbala, Iraq, days before the Shi'a uprising in the 1991 Gulf War, 24th February 1991. The Shi'a population were heavily crushed by Saddam Hussein later in March, when the US turned a blind eye to them and Kurds in the north. (Photo by Kaveh Kazemi/Getty Images)

IRAQ - JUNE 01: In the Shiite sanctuary of Kerbalah in Kerbalah, Iraq in June, 2002. (Photo by Eric BOUVET/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

IRAQ - JUNE 01: In the Shiite sanctuary of Kerbalah in Baghdad, Iraq in June, 2002. (Photo by Eric BOUVET/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

IRAQ - MARCH 01: The Iraqi Holy Places in Karbala, Iraq in March, 1985 - Imam Hussein mosque in Karbala, Iraqi Shiite Holy Place. (Photo by Francois LOCHON/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

IRAQ - MARCH 01: The Iraqi Holy Places in Karbala, Iraq in March, 1985 - Mosque of Ali tomb in Najaf, Iraqi Shiite Holy Place. (Photo by Francois LOCHON/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

Shias, a sect of Muslim brought out a procession on the day of Ashura in the capital Dhaka. On this day, thousands of people take out a mourning procession to commemorate the Karbala tragedy that martyred Hazrat Imam Hossain (R) along with his family and followers. January 30, 2007. Bangladesh. (Photo by: Majority World/UIG via Getty Images)

The Imam Husayn Shrine in Karbala, Iraq, circa 1880. It is one of the oldest mosques in the world, and stands on the grave of Hussein ibn Ali, a grandson of Muhammad, who died during the Battle of Karbala in 680 CE. (Photo by Spencer Arnold Collection/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Some Iraqi people walking in a street near the Husayn Mosque. Karbala, December 1956 (Photo by Mario De Biasi/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)

Some Iraqi people walking in front of a pointed arch portal in the Holy City. Karbala, December 1956 (Photo by Mario De Biasi/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)

Some Iraqi men sitting beside asome goats in front of a house made of mud in a village between Hindiyah and Karbala. Iraq, December 1956 (Photo by Mario De Biasi/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)

Historical Geography. 1900. Kerbela, some sixty miles south-west of Baghdad, where Hussein, son of Ali the fourth Caliph, was slain in A. D. 680, almost ranks with Mecca as Muslim holy city. Something like a quarter of a million Shia Muslims annually make pilgrimage to the great shrine with golden dome and gilded minarets that contains the martyr's remains. Like Mecca, Karbela's material prosperity depends largely on the pilgrims, for whom caravanserais like this provide accomodation. They are built round the four sides of an open courtyard, with stables for animals on the ground floor and bare rooms for the travellers above. (Photo by: SeM/UIG via Getty Images)

ATMOSPHERE IN KARBALA (Photo by Maher Attar/Sygma via Getty Images)

Iraq - Pilgrims with their camels on the way to Karbala / Karbala to the Shrine of Imam Hussain, . Photo taken in 1920s after creation of Iraq ( from Baghdad, Camera Studio Iraq, A Kerim and Hasso Bros, Rotophot AG, Berlin 1925) (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images)

A boy flies a kite near the facade of a rising rebuilt building in Karbala. The city was heavily damaged in the insurrection of 1991. (Photo by © Shepard Sherbell/CORBIS SABA/Corbis via Getty Images)

The large blue-tiled mosque of the Hussein Shrine dominates the Shiite holy city of Karbala. Construction to repair the damage caused in the insurrection of 1991 takes place in the foreground. (Photo by © Shepard Sherbell/CORBIS SABA/Corbis via Getty Images)