Why do shiite Muslims flagellate themselves?

Answer 1

Ashoura, the holiest day of the Shiite Muslim calendar. Ashoura marks the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, in a 7th century battle for leadership of the Islamic world. Pilgrims flagellate themselves with chains and cut themselves with swords in grief at Hussein's death.The cut themselves on the forehead...

The A.D. 680 battle in the desert plain around Karbala, Iraq was a defining moment in the split between Islam's Sunni and Shiite sects. Hussein's father, Imam Ali, had been killed 20 years earlier, and leadership of the Islamic community was taken by the Sunni Ummayad dynasty. But Ali's followers, the Shiites, rallied behind his son.

Hussein and his followers moved from the Arabian peninsula into Iraq, harried by forces of the Ummayad caliph Yazid. Finally, Hussein was left with only a handful of supporters, surrounded by Ummayad forces.

On the 10th day of the Muslim month of Muharram, the Ummayads attacked the band. Hussein and the men with him were decapitated, and the women taken prisoner.