The first thing a visitor notices in the narrow lanes of Old Dhaka on the morning of Ashura is the black. Black banners hang from the balconies and cornices of the Mughal-era Hossaini Dalan imambara, black flags flutter above the crowd, and thousands of mourners dressed in black press forward, their right hands striking their chests in rhythmic grief. The cry of “Ya Hossain, Ya Hossain” rises and falls as the traditional tazia procession—a symbolic funeral cortege bearing replicas of the Imam’s tomb—begins its journey from the imambara towards Dhanmondi Lake. Among the participants are not only Shia Muslims, for whom the day marks the martyrdom of the Prophet’s grandson at Karbala, but also Sunni families who have attended for generations, describing it as a family custom to honour the martyrs.

As the procession winds through Bakshi Bazar, Azimpur and the Science Laboratory crossing, the air fills with the scent of rose water and the sight of devotees distributing sherbet to passers-by. Young children walk alongside their parents, some carrying symbolic pennants or models of the horse Dul Dul. Organisers say the route ends at the lake, where the tazia is immersed in a ritual that closes one chapter of the day’s observances. By evening, the imambara will extinguish its lights for the “Sham-e-Ghariba”, a gathering that recalls the bereavement of the survivors. Security remains tight, a legacy of a militant attack on the procession in 2015, but the mood is one of sombre commemoration rather than fear.

Ashura’s significance, however, extends far beyond the lanes of Dhaka. For Sunni Muslims, the day is primarily one of fasting, rooted in a tradition that the Prophet Muhammad encountered Jews in Medina fasting to mark the deliverance of Moses from Pharaoh. The Prophet adopted the fast and recommended adding a day to distinguish Muslim practice. In Indonesia, editorials in outlets such as Republika frame Muharram as a moment for societal introspection, linking the call for hijrah—a migration towards moral renewal—to persistent problems of poverty, online gambling and child exploitation. The Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs, quoted in one article, describes hijrah not as a symbolic move but as a comprehensive change to build a just civilisation.

Viewed from Tehran, Ashura carries an explicitly political charge. President Pezeshkian, speaking at a mosque in Sahand, declared that the path of Imam Hussein is one of “dignity, honour and the fight against oppression”, adding that it is inconsistent to weep for the Imam while remaining indifferent to poverty and hunger. Foreign Minister Araghchi, in a social media post, drew a parallel between the martyrdom of Hussein and the recent killing of a senior Iranian figure, vowing never to forget or forgive. In northern Nigeria, a Tribune column cautions against innovations, reminding readers that the Prophet prohibited wailing and chest-beating, and that Ashura’s sanctity predates Karbala. Italian news agency AGI notes that in North Africa, the day takes on a more festive tone, with sweets and gifts for children, a kind of carnival atmosphere that contrasts sharply with the mourning processions of South Asia and the Middle East.

By late afternoon in Dhaka, the tazia has been consigned to the water and the crowds have thinned. At the Hossaini Dalan, volunteers prepare for the evening’s “faka shikani” sherbet distribution, while families light candles inside the imambara, small flames flickering against the black-draped walls. The day’s many registers—grief, fasting, social critique, political resolve—coexist without resolution, held together by a calendar date that has absorbed pre-Islamic Arab reverence, Jewish tradition, and the trauma of Karbala into a single, densely layered observance.