Azadari in Lucknow

The Muharram, 1795: Asaf ud Daula, Nawab of Oudh, listening at night to the maulvi reading from the scriptures during Muharram, c. 1795.

Azadari in Lucknow or Mourning in Lucknow, is name of the practices related to mourning and commemoration of the anniversary of the death of Imam Husayn ibn Ali at the Battle of Karbala in 680,[1] particularly in period of Muharram (in the Indian sub-continent Muharram in the context of remembrance of the events of Karbala means the period of two months & eight days i.e. 68 days starting from the evening of 29 Zill-Hijjah and ending on the evening of 8 Rabi-al-Awwal[2]) and in general round the year.

The Government of Uttar Pradesh banned the processions in 1977 because of riots and violence.[3] As a result of protests, demonstrations, court arrests, self immolations and deaths of Shia youth, under the leadership of shia ulemas, the Shias were permitted by the government to stage an Azadari procession in January 1998 (21st of Ramzan).[4] A limited number of processions are allowed, and security is tight.[3]

  1. ^ "Azadari | Four Californian Lectures | Books on Islam and Muslims". Al-Islam.org. 4 December 2012. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  2. ^ The Times of India, Muharram: Mehndi processions to be taken out tomorrow, The Times of India, 2 December 2011
  3. ^ a b No new Muharram procession allowed in Lucknow Archived 4 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine, TwoCircles.net, 16 December 2010
  4. ^ "Tanzeem-e-Pasdaran-e-Husain, Azadari Movement". Archived from the original on 20 October 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2011.