Ta'ziyeh: History and Key Facts

Ta'ziyeh, also spelled as ta'zieh (Iranian Persian: تعزیه, romanized: taʿziye [tæʔziˈje], from Arabic ‏تعزية‎ taʿziya, 'condolence'), is a dramatic art form of Iran, performed by Shia Muslims, and historically also called shabih-khani (Iranian Persian: شبیه‌خوانی, romanized: šabih-xâni [ʃæbiːɦxɒːˈniː]), though this term is less commonly used today (see § Etymology and terminology, below).

Performances of ta'ziyeh have often been described as "Iranian passion plays". They reenact the events of the Battle of Karbala (680 CE), centering on the tragic death of Husayn ibn Ali, a grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, along with his family members and companions on the plains of Karbala (present-day Iraq). The event, which resulted from a political struggle over leadership of the Muslim community after Muhammad's death, became a powerful symbol of sacrifice, resistance, and justice in Shia Islam.

Sir Lewis Pelly began the preface of his book about ta'ziyeh maintaining that

If the success of a drama is to be measured by the effects which it produces upon the people for whom it is composed, or upon the audiences before whom it is represented, no play has ever surpassed the tragedy known in the Mussulman world as that of Hasan and Husain.

Source and attribution

Text excerpted from Ta'ziyeh by Wikipedia contributors, available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0. The extract is abridged and formatting has been adjusted; the adapted text on this page is shared under the same licence. Revision history.