Moments from My Metropolis - Ashura on Park Avenue

For those who are interested in inter-cultural understanding and tolerance, I had an interesting experience to share from last Sunday 4 January 2009.

As I was driving crosstown, I came across a large crowd of turbaned men and ladies in hijab with banners, etc. Mindful of the ongoing news coverage of the attacks on the Hamas in Gaza, the natural reaction from my passengers was that was probably a protest march. A few things caught my eyes though: the mood was certainly more festive than expected, the banners - all in the Arabic script - seemed calm and I caught sight of turbaned men in richly coloured robes around what looked like a folded tent. For some reason, I felt there was more to the gathering than initially thought. But I also quickly forgot about it.

An hour later, just out of curiousity I decided to visit a famous wine shop on 59th Street at Park Avenue which I passed by a few days earlier.

As I came closer though, I saw the same gathering stretching for 3 blocks just a little beyond the wine shop (which was incidentally closed on Sunday). As I walked towards it, there were many Middle Eastern people - whole families including ladies in dark robes - headed the same way.

By now I had a reasonable suspicion that they were Persian and whatever that was happenning was Shi'ite in origin; which turned out to be true. Closer to the gathering I was impressed to find many youthful girls and boys wearing large signs with, "ASK ME" written in English handing out information leaflets in English. A young lady told me its, the festival of "Karbalah" also known as "Ashura" commemorating the matyrdom of Imam Hussein (grandson of Prophet Mohamad) at the massacre of Karbala in 680 AD.

Around me almost the entire crowd which numbered around 3000, was dressed in black - men in Western clothing and the most women loosely veiled - but here and there there were a few bearded men in turbans in brown or orangey robes. Could they be Imams or Ayatollahs, I wonder? There were a few sound-trucks which belted out a mournful and poetic laments in Persian which were remarkably soothing and spiritual to the ears; and around them hundreds of young men chanted along beating their chests with their hands in rhythm. Far ahead what I thought to be tents were actually tall flags. The women and children mostly just watched. And so did the number of police around who blocked off the road and managed the traffic around it. It was a truly surreal sight to see this ancient Shi'ite gathering across from a church, clogging up the most prestigeous avenues of New York City (which by the way has one of the largest Jewish population anywhere).

What also impressed me was the handout from the Shi'ite community organizations, which explained the history and the different symbolisms of the commemoration. Clearly working to engage a modern Western audience, the document linked the values of that commemoration to what it called the universal values of justice, social progress, tolerance and human rights (!); and carefully side-stepping the religious and political nature of the event as the beginning of the Shi'ite vs Sunni schism. The leaflet even described the role of Zainab (one of the Prophet's grand-daughters) as an early example of women leaders in Shi'ite Islam, when after the massacre she protected the Prophet's family, ralied their supporters with stirring speeches and bravely spoke out against the injustice at the court of her brother's killer, Caliph Yazid. It was a laudable attempt trying its best to convert an image of fear (veiled women and turbaned men) into one that stresses shared values and greater cultural understanding.

I was full of hope seeing the spirit of outreach and dialogue undertaken by the Shi'ite community which was mirrored by the spirit of cultural diversity and tolerence by the City of New York (underpinned by the liberal democratic Western traditions). Coming from a Sunni Islamic state, this was my first experience of the Shi'ite version - and sadly, one that is probably less tolerated by many Islamic governments.