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‘Disorder’, political sociability and the urban public sphere 165

were much less sophisticated than those of the Iranian ta‘ziyah. Several
episodes which rehearsed the vicissitudes of the Ahl al-Bayt, the family of

Imam Husayn, were enacted during the procession, particularly the beat-

ing and desecration of the coffin of the Imam which provoked universal

sobbing and excitement. 37

‘Ashura’ in Manama mirrored the cultural and political divisions

between Arabs and Persians. The two communities differed in the

nomenclature of performances, their style of chest beating and in the

marasim al-‘aza’, the protocol of mourning. As hiring preachers for

the qira’ al-husayniyyah, the readings of the stories of Imam Husayn,

was an integral part of the seasonal recruitment of labour overseas, the

Baharna drew extensively on the Iraqi ta‘ziyah tradition while the Persians

relied on those of Dashtistan and Fars. Different world views were also at

play in the versions of the stories of Karbala recounted in the majalis al-

ta‘ziyah, the memorial services. While the Baharna emphasised their

condition of oppression, mourning brought the hope of redemption and

rewards in the hereafter to Persian devotees. 38 Episodes of violence

between Arabs and Persians during Muharram often evolved around

contestation over the right of ma’tam affiliates to appropriate the sacred

space of Imam Husayn during the processions, symbolised by the route

followed by the mourners.

This occurred increasingly frequently after 1925 when the parades
(mawakib al-‘aza’, sing. mawkib) became carefully choreographed events
organised by a procession committee which included the heads of
Manama’s houses of mourning. As a strict timetable regulated the flow

of mourners who reached the procession route from their ma’tams, each

parade, whose boundaries were clearly demarcated by a standard, flags
and banners, had to complete a round of performances along the route to
pay homage to Imam Husayn. During Muharram 1942, for instance, the
accidental rerouting of the procession of Ma’tam Bin Rajab (the largest
Arab house of mourning of Manama) by a police inspector triggered a
reaction by the followers of the Persian ma’tam. As Baharna mourners
forced their way into the alleys where the Persians were marching, the
police fired shots in the air in an attempt to separate the two parties. Out of
a sense of outrage at the violation of the order and hierarchy of the
37
Freitag, Collective Action and Community, pp. 256–8; J. R. Cole, Roots of North India
Shi‘ism in Iran and Iraq: Religion and State in Awadh, 1722–1859 (Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1988), pp. 92–119; Y. Nakash, The Shi‘is of Iraq (Princeton University
Press, 1994), pp. 141–54; K. S. Aghaie, The Martyrs of Karbala: Shi‘i Symbols and Rituals
in Modern Iran (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2004), pp. 15–29.
38
Interviews with ‘Ali Akbar Bushehri and ‘Abdallah Sayf, Manama, 3 and 15 September
2004.