Bilad Alqadeem, Bahrain. 11th November 2013 — Ashura ceremony in Bilad alqadeem 11. — Ashura is commemorated by Shi'a Muslims as a day of mourning for the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad at the Battle of Karbala on 10 Muharram in the year 61 AH. Photograph by bahrain14feb bilad. Copyright: Demotix. Used with permission.
Millions of people around the world gathered to commemorate the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Hussain bin Ali, grandson of the Prophet Mohammed. Participants took part in art galleries, blood donations and lectures, and as hundreds of thousands lined up in huge processions marking Ashura, as the day is called, the coverage of international media outlets like AFP, Yahoo, Daily Mail, RT and others, focused on a disputed bloody tradition called tatbir, which involves cutting slits in the scalps of participants.
On social media, they were criticized for portraying the story in “biased” news reports instead of showing the full picture of rituals that took place mainly in Iraq, Iran, Lebanon and Bahrain, which have large Shia communities.
#العراق | العراقيون يحييون مراسم عاشوراء في #كربلاء. pic.twitter.com/hPveNsDgf9
— Zaid Benjamin (@zaidbenjamin) October 25, 2015
Iraqis hold Ashura rituals in Karbala.
Ashura is an annual remembrance of the martyrdom of Imam Hussain, marked on the 10th of the Islamic month of Muharram. Shia Muslims around the world mark this day by attending sermons on the lessons of Imam Hussain's sacrifice for justice and mourning the martyrs of the Karbala massacre that took place some 1,300 years ago.
Covering the event, AFP in particular came under fire after tweeting a picture of graphic content without prior warning. The picture showed Iraqi men who practiced self-flagellation (tatbir in Arabic) as their way of mourning.
@AFP a professional media shouldn't broadcast such sensitive pic without warnings…
— Anthony Samaha (@anthonysamaha) October 24, 2015
@AFP Disturbing. And why should these be released without an advisory? What's the point?
— Anshu Chhibber (@AnshuChhibber) October 24, 2015
@afp stupid Agence France-Presse you just ruined my day. Thank you!
— iDaveV2.9 (@DaveV2_9) October 24, 2015
Others, who said they related to the religious belief, described the coverage as “biased”.
@AFP I'm a shiite , this is my response to this very biased and coordinated coverage pic.twitter.com/RB3raVtX0u
— مراسل 14 فبراير (@Feb14Reporter) October 25, 2015
@AFP If you are going to do a report on something, educate yourself properly. It's a shame with what you are doing with your power.
— Fatema Jaffer (@Fatemaajaffer) October 24, 2015
The tweet seems to have sparked anger over a practice that has long been disputed among Shia Muslims themselves after prominent clergymen like Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenie said it was forbidden and against Islam.
#Tatbir is a fabricated tradition&a heresy;undoubtedly God is not pleased w/ such a practice https://t.co/hfNsRAilYN pic.twitter.com/YCrXY5of8t
— RT khamenei (@RT_Khamenei) October 24, 2015
Has the AFP not done its homework on the news story? Some replies couldn't help but to blame that this was intentional unfair coverage of a category of believers.
@AFP you showed pictures of 100 people who does this, why don't you show pictures for millions of shia who disagree with it! shame on you
— م. ميثم العطار (@Maitham_Alattar) October 25, 2015
@AFP @ahmed6216 if you knew any better you'd know not all Shias comply to this ‘ritual’
— Yas (@yasmineali__) October 24, 2015
@AFP all Sunnis and most Shias agree this is not Islamic.
— تاتـولوژی. مرسی، اه. (@blackvvine) October 24, 2015
Other media outlets have not escaped the criticism, too.
@RT_com you people need to do some research because Shias do not believe in tatbir it is forbidden in our religion!!! Understand that!
— souha (@Souha0_o) October 25, 2015
Maybe mention its largest peaceful gathering in world, people of all faiths commemorate but no they focus on tatbir. https://t.co/u7ph5kN9Y2
— Hasan Hafidh (@HasHafidh) October 25, 2015
As the conversation went on and drifted in different directions, some thought doing AFP's homework might help in giving viewers a clearer picture of the Ashura processions.
This is also from karbala @AFP Or r u blinded by hate At the shrine of Abu Fadhil Al-Abbas (AS) today.. Ya Abbas <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/72x72/1f49a.png" alt="