Sheikh Bahmanpour writes on the practice of bloodletting.

www.ihrc.org.uk/news/articles/11959-why-we-should-ban-tatbir-and-zanjir-in-our-centres


"And We put in the hearts of those who followed him (Jesus) compassion and mercy. But they invented monasticism, which We had not prescribed for them. All we asked was seeking Allah's pleasure, yet they did not observe it with due observance". (57:27)


This short note is written with due acknowledgement of the
sincere love and dedication offered to our beloved Imam
Husayn (a) by those who practice tatbir and zanjir . It is not
their love and passion which is questioned here, rather the
way they express it.


There is no doubt that expressing grief for the tragic martyrdom of Imam Husayn (a) is one of the richest
instances of tawalla which is a pillar of Islamic faith and to
which numerous verses of the Quran and narrations of the
ma’sumin testify. However, a believer’s conduct, speech and expression in tawalla and tabarra should always be restricted by the sound rational judgment and by the framework of shari’ah which is the brightest path gifted to us by our creator. Shari’ah is the most rational, ethical, decent, upright, and honourable way of conduct.


During the history, people have expressed their love and
submission to the Supreme in peculiar ways. Some thought that total dedication requires absolute withdrawal from life, others guessed that He is so sublime that they needed intermediaries to reach Him. Others used to cut themselves in temples to show their love with blood; some chained themselves to its pillars and others slaughtered their sons and daughters to show the extent of their devotion. If expression of submission is left to people, they come up with such peculiar customs.


The expression of grief for Imam Husayn (a) is something of a similar nature. Although we are encouraged to openly
express our grief for Abi Abdillah (a), and although different
cultures may have their unique ways of expressing grief, but their customs must always be checked by and aligned with the guidelines of shari’ah, common sense and rationality.


There have been and there are different customs in expressing grief for Imam Husayn (a) during history and in our present time which did not and do not stand the standards of shari’ah or common sense. One of such customs which has become controversial in our present day community is the practice of tatbir and zanjir . Here I will try to trace the custom of tatbir to its origins and discuss the appropriateness of its practice, especially in public gatherings and in our centres.

1- History

It is difficult to locate the origin of tatbir and zanjir practice in history. The most documented view is that tatbir (qameh
zani) or razor cutting (teeq zani) were practices borrowed by Persians and Arabs from Azari Turks.


The practice had no precedence in pre-Safavid Iran.[1] It
was in Safavid era (1501- 1722) that tatbir ( qameh zani) and some other practices like padlock locking on the flesh (qufl zani) became popular.[2]


The practice of tatbir apparently started with the Safavid
army. We know that the Safavids were originally a Turkish
Sufi order who did not know much about Shi’a faith and
Islamic practice before they invited to Iran great jurists like
al-Muhaqqiq al-Karaki (d. 1534) from Lebanon and other
Shi’a areas. It was a custom with Safavids that they had
their army march on the day of Ashura with their weapons.
A faction of a highly loyal forces in the army who were
called Qezelbash (Red Capped) and who were used to have
their heads shaved all the time started to beat their heads
with their swords on that day. This was either due to their
Sufi origin, or to sympathise with Imam Husayn (a) and his
followers, or to show their readiness and strength as highly
trained army loyalists. After all, these were the special
forces who had severe and difficult trainings including
eating all sorts of animals and reptiles like snakes;[3]
something which is still practiced in trainings of special
forces all over the world.

The practice, however, was restricted to Iran for some while.


According to the Iraqi sociologist, Ibrahim al-Haidari,
ceremonies like tatbir were not practiced in Iraq before
nineteenth century. [4] Towards the end of the nineteenth
century Turkish Iraqis, Sufis and Kurds of the western Iran
started to practice such ceremonies but the Iraqi Arabs did
not join them until early 20 th century. [5] A report from
British officials in Iraq regarding the Ashura of 1919 in Najaf
indicates that a group of about one hundred Shi’i Turks had
performed tatbir in that year.[6]


Haj Hamid Razi (d. 1953), who lived for 110 years, has
reported that in his youth, tatbir was not a custom in
Karbala and Najaf.[7] Neither the practice is mentioned in
any oral memoirs of the elderly of Najaf and Karbala before
the latter part of the 19 th century in which “a group of
Qezelbash Turks started to beat their heads with special
swords while visiting Imam Husayn’s shrine.”[8]

2- The Position of the Past Ulama

Renowned scholars objected the practice. In his book Tuhfeh Firouziyyeh Mirza Abdullah Afandi (d. 1718), the most prominent aid to Allamh Majlisi in compilation of Bihar al-Anwar , reports some of these objections. One of these ulama was the paragon of zuhd and taqwa, the renowned Muqaddas Ardabili (d. 1585), who is believed to have met with the twelfth Imam (a). [9]


Apparently, due to these oppositions the practice was not
generalized until after Safavids at the time of Akhund Mulla
Agha Darbandi (d. 1869) who strongly encouraged the
practice.[10] Most of the sources regard him as the inventor
of tatbir practice in 19 th century.[11] He was the author of
infamous maqtal, Asrar al-Shahadah (The Secrets of
Martyrdom)[12]. His opinion about grief for Imam Husain
allowed him to include in his book many stories about
Karbala which had no basis in history, something that urged ulama to criticise and abandon his book. For example, he states in the book that the day of Ashura was seventy-two hours, the temperature of the day was seventy degrees above the normal, and the number of Ibn Sa’d’s army was one million and six hundred thousand! Of this number three hundred and thirty thousand were killed by Imam Husayn [13] and twenty-five thousand by Hazrate Abbas. That is why the day of Ashura should have been longer than twenty-four hours because if you kill one man every second you cannot kill more than ninety thousand men in twenty-four hours. He believed that Allah has created the heavens and the earth for no purpose but to uphold the aza of Imam Husain (a).[14]


It is reported that the great Ayatullah Naini (d. 1936) was
asked about the contents of Asrar al-Shahadah upon which
he replied that if we want to judge positively, we have to say that the author regarded himself as a mujtahd and in that capacity he did not see any intrinsic malice in lying,
especially if it served some benefit. He regarded the lies in
his book as a service to religion.[15] Muhadithe Nuri the
teacher and mentor of Sheikh Abbas Qumi and the author of Mustadrak al-Wasa’il states that this book directed all sorts of criticism and derision against the Shi’a[16] and Ayatollah Mutahari says that the contents of the book makes one cry for Islam.[17]


At any rate, due to the popular appeal of emotional rhetoric
of Mulla Agha Darbandi the practice of tatbir became
widespread and the opposition of great scholars like Sayyed Mohsin al-Amin (d. 1952), the author of the massive A’yan al-Shi’ah , which included one of the most comprehensive and reliable maqtals too, could not stop the surge. It is said that Ayatollah Na’ini, due to the circumstances allowed the practice. He lived at the time of the Iranian despot Reza Shah (d. 1944) who had banned all expressions of grief for Imam Husayn (a) and arrested and imprisoned anyone who held any majlis. It was in such a context that Ayatollah Na’ini not only did not oppose the practice but issued a fatwa in its desirability.



However, his great contemporary and the leading marja’ of
the time Ayatollah Sayyed Abu al-Hassan Isfahani (d. 1946)
declared it as impermissible and issued a strong fatwa
against it. This was after the less educated talabah had
launched fierce attack on Ayatollah Sayyed Mohsin al-Amin
because of the condemnation of tatbir in his book, al-Tanzih li A’mal al-Shabih, to the extent that they accused him of intending to abrogate the traditions of Ahl al-Bayt and to stop practice of Islam. The fatwa of Aaytollah Isfahani was as follows:[18]


“The use of swords, zanjirs, drums, trumpets, and other similar things which are common to use today in processions of grief on the day of Ashura are haram and against the shari’ah.” [19]


However, after Ayatollah Na’ini, some of his students who
are among the past generation of maraji’ did not seem
willing to oppose his fatwa openly.

3- The Position of Contemporary Ulama

The new generation of maraji’ do not see themselves bound to the fatwa of Ayatollah Na’ini and are becoming more and more concerned about the global and inter-cultural impact of this practice in the age of TV and internet.


Following are the fatawa of some of the maraji’ in
disagreement with tatbir:


Ayatollah Sayyed Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr:
What is performed today by the name of Tatbir and causing
bodily bleeding is the practice of ignorant among the lay
people and none of our ulama has ever practiced it. They
continuously have prevented it and regarded it as haram.[20]


Ayatollah Khomeini
It should not be practiced in the current circumstances.[21]


Ayatollah Khamenei:
Tatbir (qameh zani), cannot be customarily regarded as an
expression of sorrow and grief; and not only there is no
precedent of that at the age of A’immah (a) and after, and
there is no general or specific confirmation of that by the
ma’soumin (a), it is today a cause of insult and ill-repute of
the mazhab and is not permissible publicly or privately.[22]


Ayatollah Makarim Shirazi:
Tatbir is categorically haram. Any practice that causes insult to the mazhab or brings harm to the body must be avoided.[23]


Ayatollah Javadi Amuli:
Anything which may be a cause of insult to Islam and
disrespect to azadari is not permissible. It is expected that
tatbir and similar practices are avoided.[24]


Ayatollah Fazil Lankarani:
The practice of azadari and grief for the Master of the
Martyrs, Hazrate Imam Husayn (a) must be performed in a
way to cause more attraction and love for him and his holy
cause. In our current circumstances, not only tatbir would
not play such a role, but due to its unacceptability and lack
of any understandable justification it would cause ill
consequences. It is therefore incumbent on the Shi’i lovers
of the school of Imam Husayn (a) to avoid it. And in case of
any nadhr in this regard, the nadhr does not meet the
conditions of correctness and conclusion (in’iqad ).[25]


Ayatollah Sayyed Kazim Ha’iri:
Superstitions like tatbir cause ill-repute to Islam and
Tashayyu’ .[26]


Ayatollah Mazahiri:
Tatbir and similar acts are not allowed.[27]


Ayatollah Sobhani:
Tatbir is not permissible.[28]


Aayatollah Bahjat:
Any act that causes insult to tashayyu’ must be avoided.[29]


Ayatollah Noori Hamadani
Tatbir is problematic.[30]


Ayatollah Tabrizi:
In reply to an istifta’ about tatbir:
Azadari should be performed in manner that would not cause ill-repute for the Shi’a.[31]

Also:

To regard tatbir as an act of azadari for Imam Husayn (a)
and his Ahl al-Bayt and companions is not established.
Thus, it is necessary for all the believers to choose the type
of azadari which is proven and well established like crying,
chest beating and forming azadari marches.[32]


Ayatollah Muhaqqiq Kabuli:
Do not allow some people make themselves naked in
majalis of azadari or inflict sever harm to themselves like
using qameh or bladed zanjir.[33]


Ayatollah Alawi Gorgani:
Tatbir causes ill-repute to tashayyu’ and is not allowed.
Ayatollah Wahid Khorasani and Ayatollah Sistani:
In an interview, Ayatollah Faqih Imani of Isfahan has stated
that what is heard about the views of Ayatollah Wahid
Khorasani regarding permissibility of tatbir is not accurate
and may be his past opinion. “I sent my representative to
his excellency and he told him that in the current
circumstances tatbir is haram. However, his office may not
give you a direct answer.”[34] Regarding Ayatollah Sistani’s
opinion he says, “My nephew is Ayatollah Sistani’s son in
law. I sent him to his excellency and similar to Ayatollah
Wahid he said that tatbir is haram.”