Ashura is a hugely important day for Shia muslims throughout the world commemorating the martyrdom of Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad in 680AD at Karbala in modern-day Iraq. The day is marked by rituals of mourning and plays of re-enactment of the martyrdom. These photographs were taken in Nabatiyeh, southern Lebanon, where men and boys seek to emulate the suffering of Hussein with the controversial practise of self-flagellation and by cutting their foreheads. 2008.