The Mourning of Muharram, is a set of rituals associated with Shia Islam, which takes place in Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, maraking the anniversary of the Battle of Karbala when Imam Hussein ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad, and a Shia Imam, who was killed and beheaded by the forces of the second Umayyad caliph Yazid I at Karbala. Family members, accompanying Hussein ibn Ali, were killed or subjected to humiliation. The commemoration of the event during yearly mourning season, from first of Muharram to twentieth of Safar with Ashura comprising the focal date, serves to define Shia communal identity.
Shia Muslims usually wear black besides blacking out the mosques and streets to express their sorrow for the death of Husayn ibn Ali. At present, Muharram Observances are carried out in countries with noteworthy Shia population, including Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Lebanon, India, and Bahrain.