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Omar Koshan (Persian: عمرکشان "Killing Omar"), also known as Jashn-e Hazrat-e Zahra ("Celebration of [Fatima] Zahra")^[1] or Eid-e-Shuja' ("Feast of the Brave One")^[2]^{[better source needed]} is a festival held by Twelver Shi'a Muslims in Iran beginning on the 9th day of the month of Rabi Al-Awwal of the Islamic year and lasting until the 27th of the same month,^[3] celebrating the death of the second caliph Omar ibn al-Khattab (c. 583–644).^[4]

It is a carnival-type of festival in which social roles are reversed and communal norms upturned,^[5] and it generally functions as a more lighthearted counterpart of the Ta'zieh passion plays commemorating the death of the prophet Muhammad's grandson Husayn ibn Ali at the Battle of Karbala in 680.^[6]

First established in the 16th century during the Safavid conversion of Iran to Shia Islam, the festival originally commemorated the assassination of the second caliph Omar ibn al-Khattab by Piruz Nahavandi (Abu Lu'lu'a) in 644.^[7] Omar was thought to have threatened and injured the prophet Muhammad's daughter and Ali's wife Fatima, and to have subsequently been cursed by her.^[8] Being related to the more general institution in early Safavid Iran of the ritual cursing of the first three Rashidun caliphs (who were all seen to have displaced Ali as the rightful caliph),^[9] the festival involved the beating and burning of effigies of Omar accompanied by the recitation of vilifying poetry (sabb) and cursing (laʿn)).^[10]

However, during the Qajar period (1789–1925) the ritual cursing and humiliation of the first three caliphs was gradually abandoned due to the improving political relations with the Sunni Ottomans, and by the beginning of the 20th century the festival of Omar Koshan had fallen into disuse in the major cities of Iran, surviving only in the countryside.^[11] This evolution, further spurred on by the rise of pan-islamism (an ideology advocating the unity of all Muslims, both Shi'is and Sunnis) in the late 19th century,^[12] reached a height with the Islamic Revolution in 1979, after which the ritual was officially banned in the Islamic Republic of Iran.^[13]

Nevertheless, the festival itself is still celebrated in Iran, though often secretly and indoors rather than outdoors.^[14] In these contemporary celebrations, there is a lapse of historical consciousness, where the idea has taken root that the Omar involved was not the second caliph Omar ibn al-Khattab, but the leader of the troops who killed Ali's son Husayn ibn Ali at the Battle of Karbala in 680, Omar ibn Sa'ad.^[15] There is also a shift of focus away from Omar and towards Fatima, the festival being seen as an occasion to strengthen one's devotion to Fatima and one's self-identification as a Shi'i.^[16]

References

^ Torab 2007, p. 195.
^ Syed 2017.
^ Torab 2007, p. 198.
^ Algar 1990; Torab 2007, p. 194.
^ Torab 2007, p. 194.
^ Algar 1990.
^ Algar 1990; Torab 2007, p. 196.
^ Torab 2007, p. 195.
^ Algar 1990.
^ Algar 1990; Torab 2007, p. 194.
^ Algar 1990.
^ Algar 1990.
^ Torab 2007, pp. 194–195.
^ Torab 2007, p. 195.
^ Torab 2007, p. 197.
^ Torab 2007, p. 195.

Works cited

Algar, Hamid (1990). "Caliphs and the Caliphate, as viewed by the Shiʿites of Persia". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica, Volume IV/7: Calendars II–Cappadocia. London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 677–679. ISBN 978-0-71009-130-7.
Daniel, Elton L.; Mahdi, Ali Akbar (2006). Culture and customs of Iran. Greenwood Press. p. 185. ISBN 0-313-32053-5.
Syed, Akramulla (2017). "Eid-E-Zehra or Eid-E-Shuja Celebration (Eid-E-Zahra)". IslamicOccasions.com. Retrieved 2021-08-19.
Torab, Azam (2007). Performing Islam: Gender and Ritual in Iran. Leiden: Brill. doi:10.1163/9789047410546_009.

[1] Torab 2007, p. 195.

[2] Syed 2017.

[3] Torab 2007, p. 198.

[4] Algar 1990; Torab 2007, p. 194.

[5] Torab 2007, p. 194.

[6] Algar 1990.

[7] Algar 1990; Torab 2007, p. 196.

[8] Torab 2007, p. 195.

[9] Algar 1990.

[10] Algar 1990; Torab 2007, p. 194.

[11] Algar 1990.

[12] Algar 1990.

[13] Torab 2007, pp. 194–195.

[14] Torab 2007, p. 195.

[15] Torab 2007, p. 197.

[16] Torab 2007, p. 195.

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+{{Expand Persian}}
 {{Twelvers}}
 '''Omar Koshan''' ({{lang-fa|عمرکشان}} "Killing Omar"), also known as '''Jashn-e Hazrat-e Zahra''' ("Celebration of [Fatima] [[Fatimah|Zahra]]")<ref>{{harvnb|Torab|2007|p=195}}.</ref> or '''Eid-e-Shuja'''' ("Feast of the Brave One")<ref>{{harvnb|Syed|2017}}.</ref>{{Better source needed|date=September 2021}} is a festival held by [[Twelver|Twelver Shi'a Muslims]] in [[Iran]] beginning on the 9th day of the month of [[Rabi Al-Awwal]] of the [[Hijri calendar|Islamic year]] and lasting until the 27th of the same month,<ref>{{harvnb|Torab|2007|p=198}}.</ref> celebrating the death of the second caliph [[Omar|Omar ibn al-Khattab]] ({{circa}} 583–644).<ref>{{harvnb|Algar|1990}}; {{harvnb|Torab|2007|p=194}}.</ref>