Arohanui: Letters from Shoghi Effendi to New Zealand

The Moslem calendar dates from Muḥammad’s emigration or Hijrah from Mecca to Medina in 622 A.D. The Moslem year begins with the month of Muharram of which the first ten days are observed by Shí’ah Moslems as part of their mourning period for the Imáms. The tenth day is called Ashura and commemorates the martyrdom of Ḥusayn, the grand-son of Muḥammad, who was cut down by thirty-three strokes of swords and lances and decapitated: his clothes were torn from him and his naked body trampled by horses hooves.