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 A
shura 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.