Boys ‘Flogged’ During Shia Ritual
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BBC News, August 18, 2008
A man whipped himself until he bled during a Shia Muslim religious ceremony, before allegedly forcing two boys to do the same, a court has heard.
Syed Mustafa Zaidi, 44, is accused of encouraging the boys, aged 13 and 15, to beat themselves at a community centre in Manchester on 19 January.
Manchester Crown Court was played a film showing Mr Zaidi beating himself with a whip made of knives and chains.
Mr Zaidi, of Station Road, Eccles, denies two counts of child cruelty.
It is the first case of its kind ever to be prosecuted in the UK.
The 20-minute video shown to the court showed the Shia Muslim Ashura ceremony in Levenshulme, with Mr Zaidi bare-chested among a crowd of about 150 men, chanting and singing.
He then used the whip—called a zanjeer—on himself.
Participants at the men-only event take it in turns, in small groups, to flog themselves, while the crowd around them chant the name of Husayn, a central figure in the Shia faith whose death they are commemorating.
The film played to the court also showed the 13-year-old boy, who Zaidi is accused of forcing, flogging himself with the whip.
‘Considerable force’
Prosecutors said the 15-year-old boy, who is not seen in the film but was allegedly forced to take part in the ceremony, suffered multiple lacerations to his back and shoulders, including a wound measuring up to a centimetre long.
Andrew Nuttall, prosecutor, said Mr Zaidi also harmed himself in the film.
“This devout man used considerable force upon himself, clearly causing injuries, and causing others present to fear for his safety to such an extent that they started to intervene and calm him down,” he said.
Mr Nuttall said Mr Zaidi then went on to encourage the 15-year-old boy to flog himself and gave him “no choice” about participating in the ceremony.
He said Mr Zaidi took the arm of the 13-year-old boy, took off his T-shirt so he was bare-chested and put the zanjeer in his hand and told him to flog himself.
‘Not for children’
The court heard how Mr Zaidi had attended a meeting at the community centre two days before the ceremony, where it was made plain that children under the age of 16 should not participate.
Mr Zaidi denies forcing the boys to participate and claims they had requested to take part.
Mr Nuttall said: “The prosecution say the defendant ignored the advice given to him that this practice was not allowed for children under 16 years of age.”
He said Zaidi forced the boys to participate in a ceremony “clearly designed to cause self harm”.
Mr Nuttall added: “This was not only against their own will but in any event is not allowed by law.”
(Posted on August 29, 2008)
Comments
Self flagellation is not confined to parts of the Islamic community; indeed it is present in some Christian sects. Unfortunately, the physical grotesqueness of the practice overshadows the real issue, and that is the incredible stupidity of the adherents of the marxist religion. If a Briton imported a tiger and had it live in his back yard, declaring it a nice British kitty cat, no one would be surprised when it ate one of the neighbors. But import one million muslims to live in London, and everyone is surprised when they do not assimilate and even terrorize the indigenous population.
Posted by Flamethrower at 6:20 PM on August 29
Well said Flamethrower. Mr. Zaidi is symbolic of the Marxist elite in Britain and the children are symbolic of the sheeple over whom they rule.
Posted by jewamongyou at 11:57 PM on August 29
If you read islamic history, and you should, you will find it is based on violence, most far worse that described in this story. If this is what one particular muslim sect insists for it’s own young boys, imagine what they do to other muslims. The shiia v sunni conflict, ongoing for fourteen hundred years, is still as valid today as in the 4th century as recent events in iraq have clearly demonstrated. The above story avoids some facts which are omitted to avoid offending pakistani muslims in UK and quite typical of the BBC. Zaidi is pakistani. These two boys were subjected to the same abuse in their home country of pakistan prior to their immigration into England, and since this ‘ceremony’ only takes place once a year during the first month of the islamic calender, just how young were they then ‘at home’ and over how many years were they forced to slash themseves? There are many photographs on islamic websites showing grinning muslim mothers holding bloodstained knives and babies with vicious wounds across their foreheads complete with blood soaked bandanas covered with islamic verses. Do your own research.
Posted by yorkshireman at 7:50 AM on August 30
True believers caught in a religious frenzy who whip their own backs raw while screaming “Hussein! Hussein” is not strictly an Islamic practice. We all witnessed thousands of white Americans doing it at the DNC in Denver just this past week.
Posted by The Incredible Shrinking White Man at 10:13 AM on August 30
Eastern enlightenment transforms England - next the dotty British Parliment, in its unending efforts to seem congenial, will declare a Monty-Python-like national “Flog Yourself Day.”
Posted by Gary at 1:00 PM on August 30
“Mr Nuttall said: “The prosecution say the defendant (Mr Zaidi) ignored the advice given to him that this practice was not allowed for children under 16 years of age.”
Mr Zaidi was ill advised. The practice is not allowed at all even though it is performed.
“While self-harm is forbidden in Islam, many Shi’a Muslims perform self-flagellation to mourn the death of Hussain during Muharram. Most usually beat their chests with their hands, but the use of metal chains and spikes is common as well. The practice is common among Shiites in the Middle East and Asia, although is often frowned upon by other Shiites and other Muslims.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flagellation
Posted by Southern Hoosier at 9:17 PM on August 30