A(nother) question for our muslim members...

free_spirit · 7 Feb 2006 at 16:32

I was walking home this evening (in Manchester) and saw a parade of people who I think were Muslims. The men were topless and beating their chests (rather violently - the bruises looked nasty!) and chanting something, and they had what looked like a shrine or an alter of some sort being wheeled along at the back of the parade, with a horse all dressed up.

Can anyone enlighten me as to what it was all about? I had a quick look on Google and thought it was possibly related to the first month of the Islamic new year - am I right?

free_spirit · 7 Feb 2006 at 16:51

It didn't look like they were about to sacrifice the horse, no.

Spawn, thanks for the info - sounds about right.

free_spirit · 7 Feb 2006 at 17:28

Spawn said:
No problems mate, i myself dont know much about shias and their practices but they are pretty strange. Just for your info there are 2 major sects of muslims, one is the sunni's which is what i am and a lot of muslims are and the other is the shias. There are also a sect called the ismaeli's...very similar to shias if i remember correctly but again i dont know much about them and their practices.

Am I right in thinking that there is a sect called the Suffis too? And do the different sects generally get on with each other?

free_spirit · 7 Feb 2006 at 18:00

Thanks, I should have thought about Iraq - seems a bit of a dumb question now!